Iran Launches Mass Drone and Missile Strikes Across Gulf States

Beginning February 28, 2026, Iran launched a massive retaliatory campaign involving over 2,000 drones and 500 missiles targeting U.S. and U.K. military bases, energy infrastructure, and civilian sites across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The strikes followed U.S.-Israeli bombardments of Iranian naval bases and missile sites. The attacks caused significant civilian casualties in Bahrain, killing a 29-year-old woman in Manama and a Bangladeshi national, and injuring dozens more in Sitra.

In response, the United States Central Command deployed LUCAS one-way attack drones for the first time in combat. President Donald Trump warned Iran that any disruption to oil flow in the Strait of Hormuz would be met with a response "TWENTY TIMES HARDER." Simultaneously, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force deployed F-35s and Typhoons to intercept drones over Jordan and Qatar, evacuating more than 37,000 British nationals from the region.

As Gulf states struggle with the high cost of intercepting low-cost Shahed drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to share Ukraine's expertise in layered air defense. Ukraine has developed drone interceptors costing under $5,000 to counter the asymmetric threat of swarm tactics. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps asserted that Iran alone would determine when the conflict ends, as oil prices spiked due to restricted tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz.