The majority of ballistic missiles launched at Israel by Iran have had cluster bomb warheads, which indiscriminately spread dozens of small munitions over a wide area.<\/p>\n
The munitions do not have their own propulsion or guidance and simply fall to the ground, where they are designed to explode on impact. Some of the submunitions do not explode upon hitting the ground, and can then still pose a danger to anyone who happens upon them.<\/p>\n
The use of cluster bombs is prohibited under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, although neither Iran nor Israel is a party to the agreement.<\/p>\n
Key naval weapons site targeted<\/p>\n
Earlier on Friday, the IDF said the Air Force had bombed Iran\u2019s \u201cmost central\u201d facility for producing naval weapons, located in Yazd, central Iran.<\/p>\n
The facility, the military said, was used by Iran to plan, develop, assemble and store \u201cadvanced missiles intended for launch from cruise vessels, submarines and helicopters toward mobile and stationary maritime targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a site where most of the missiles and naval mines are developed by the Iranian navy forces,\u201d the military said.<\/p>\n
It said the strike, carried out following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and Naval Intelligence Division, \u201cconstitutes a significant blow to the production capabilities of the naval forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strike marked yet another setback for Iran\u2019s naval operations, after Israel killed<\/a> the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 navy on Thursday, as well as other top officers.<\/p>\n \t Also on Friday, the IDF said the Air Force had bombed dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including ballistic missile launch sites and Iranian soldiers whom it said had been preparing to carry out fire on Israel.<\/p>\n According to the military, strikes in the Tehran area hit dozens of weapon manufacturing sites and other targets, including a military base where anti-aircraft systems were stored, a production site for \u201ckey components for ballistic missiles,\u201d a production site for batteries for various weaponry, and a weapons production site of the IRGC.<\/p>\n Also overnight, the IAF struck several ballistic missile launch sites \u2014 including one belonging to the IRGC \u2014 air defense systems, and surveillance posts of the IRGC and Iranian army, the military said.<\/p>\n The IDF said it also identified Iranian soldiers from Iran\u2019s ballistic missile array at a building in Tehran. \u201cMinutes after the identification, the Air Force struck and eliminated the soldiers who were planning to advance fire toward the State of Israel,\u201d the military said.<\/p>\n Israel, Gulf face renewed fire<\/p>\n Meanwhile, after a nearly eight-hour lull, Iran renewed its ballistic missile fire on Israel on Friday morning, setting off sirens across southern Israel shortly before 11 a.m.<\/p>\n Another round of rocket fire, several hours later, set off alerts across central Israel, the Jerusalem area and the West Bank.<\/p>\n No injuries were reported in either attack, and in both instances, initial IDF assessments suggested that the missiles had been intercepted by air defenses.<\/p>\n Nor were the Gulf states spared from Iranian attacks on Friday, as both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were hit with drones and missile fire.<\/p>\n Sirens also warned of attacks in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Iran warned civilians across the region to distance themselves from US forces in the area.<\/p>\n Kuwait\u2019s port authority said in a statement on X that the country\u2019s main commercial port, the Shuwaikh Port, was targeted at dawn \u201cby enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties.\u201d<\/p>\n Hours later, the country\u2019s Mubarak Al Kabeer Port also came under attack by drones and cruise missiles, causing \u201cmaterial damage\u201d but no injuries, authorities said.<\/p>\n \t The target of the attack was a facility currently under construction as part of China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative in the oil-rich nation.<\/p>\n It appeared to be the first time a Chinese-affiliated project in the region had come under assault since fighting began on February 28. There was no immediate comment on the attack from Beijing, which has continued to purchase Iranian crude oil during the war.<\/p>\n In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, authorities reported that four drones and six missiles were launched at the kingdom by Iran. The defense ministry said it \u201cintercepted and destroyed\u201d four drones over the east of the country, and authorities said two missiles were intercepted as well. The remaining four missiles fell in the Persian Gulf and on uninhabited areas, they said.<\/p>\n Across the border in Qatar, emergency services sent a heightened security alert to residents\u2019 phones, urging them to stay indoors ahead of an expected Iranian missile attack.<\/p>\n It was the first such alert sent in a week, issued after Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned civilians across the region to stay away from areas near US forces.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cowardly American-Zionist forces\u2026 are attempting to use civilian locations and innocent people as human shields,\u201d said the IRGC in a statement on its Sepah News website.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recommend that you urgently leave locations where American forces are stationed so that no harm comes to you.\u201d<\/p>\n The accusation echoed rhetoric from Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who the previous day had accused US soldiers of using people in Gulf countries as \u201chuman shields.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the outset of this war, US soldiers fled military bases in the GCC\u00a0 [Gulf Cooperation Council] to hide in hotels and offices,\u201d he said in a post on X, calling on hotels in the region to deny them bookings.<\/p>\n Tehran subsequently declared that it had the right to attack hotels across the Gulf if they were found to be housing US soldiers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen all the Americans (forces) go into a hotel, then from our perspective that hotel becomes American,\u201d armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi told state television.<\/p>\n \u201cShould we just stand by and let the Americans strike us? When we respond, naturally, we have to strike wherever they are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Fars news agency, quoting unnamed sources, said Iran had sent \u201cfirm warnings\u201d to hotels in the region, particularly in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.<\/p>\n It added that Iran\u2019s military had identified US forces using similar locations in Syria, Lebanon and Djibouti.<\/p>\n Indirect talks \u2018very soon\u2019<\/p>\n Even amid the fierce-as-ever hostilities, diplomats maintained on Friday that preparations were moving forward for indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States, after Trump presented Tehran with his 15-point plan to end the war earlier this week.<\/p>\n Iran, in its first public comments on the proposal on Thursday, called the offer \u201cone-sided and unfair.\u201d The proposal includes demands to dismantle the country\u2019s nuclear program and facilities, end support for regional proxies and impose strict limits on its missile program.<\/p>\n Still, on Friday, Germany\u2019s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said there were plans for representatives from the US and Iran to meet in Pakistan in the near future.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on my information, there have been indirect contacts, and preparations have been made to meet directly. That would be very soon in Pakistan, apparently,\u201d he told Deutschlandfunk radio.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26086341454124-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tFirst responders inspect a residential building hit in an earlier US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260325__A4MT9XL__v1__HighRes__KuwaitIranUsIsraelWar-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSmoke rises from the area of the Kuwait International Airport after a reported drone strike hit a fuel depot on March 25, 2026. (Photo by AFP)<\/p>\n
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