March 8, 2026: 23 Marina building damaged by drone Debris in Dubai’s Marina
Emma Graham, CNBC
Gulf states reported more damage to infrastructure over the weekend as Iran continues to attack regional allies in retaliation for ongoing strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, Iranian media said a new leader has been appointed, replacing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in the opening salvos of the war.
The United Arab Emirates said it was “dealing with incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”.
“UAE air defences are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran,” the country’s Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.
It said its defenses were intercepting ballistic missiles while fighter jets were tackling drones and “loitering munitions”.
On Saturday evening, alarms rang out across Dubai and Abu Dhabi warning residents to “immediately seek a safe place” due to missile threats and CNBC’s team confirmed hearing a loud explosion.
A high-rise building in Dubai’s Marina area, 23 Marina, was hit by falling debris. According to Dubai’s Media Office, no one was injured, but authorities did confirm that “debris from an aerial interception fell onto a vehicle in the Al Barsha area, resulting in the death of a Pakistani driver.”
Also on Saturday, passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport were ushered into train tunnels. Iran said it had struck an air base in the UAE.
Since the war started on Feb. 28, Iran has targeted several radar and air defenses in the Middle East — in Qatar, the U.A.E., Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — in retaliation against U.S. and Israeli attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials, military analysts and commercially available satellite images.
Bahrain said Sunday a drone attack struck a water desalination plant.
“Iranian aggression indiscriminately attacked civilian targets and caused material damage to a water desalination plant following a drone attack,” Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said in a post on X.
In a statement to CNBC, Bahrain’s electricity and water authority, said the “Iranian attack on a water desalination facility has had no impact on water supplies or water network capacity”.
The country also said “blatant Iranian aggression” damaged a university building in the Muharraq area, injuring three people, as missile fragments fell.
Elsewhere, Kuwait said two fuel depots at its international airport were hit by drones, causing a “huge fire at one of them.
The country’s Public Institution for Social Security said its headquarters were targeted, resulting in “material damage” to the building.
Meanwhile, Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran have continued through the weekend.
Israel said it struck several fuel storage complexes belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“The strike significantly deepens the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X early Sunday.
Search for a new Iranian leader
Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Huda as saying Sunday elections have been held to replace Khamenei and that a new leader has been appointed. It did not say name the new leader.
“All the rumors and news that tried to pretend that the Assembly of Experts has not yet made a decision are pure lies,” al-Huda was quoted as saying.
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that two influential Iranian clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader
One of the clerics, Naser Makarem Shirazi, a grand ayatollah who commands a broad following for his religious rulings, said an appointment was needed swiftly to “help better organize the country’s affairs,” state media reported.
The calls suggest that at least some in the clerical establishment are uncomfortable with leaving a three-man council in charge — even temporarily under constitutional rules — after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The IDF said Sunday it would “pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor.”
“We warn all those who intend to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you either. This is a warning!,” the IDF said in a post in Farsi on X.
Trump has argued the U.S. should have a role in choosing the new leader, a demand Iran has rejected.
