March 3 – 8, 2026 · Persian Gulf — Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq Theater
March 3 – 8, 2026
Iran deliberately widened the war to the states hosting American forces. On March 3 it struck Doha, hit the US embassy in Riyadh, attacked cloud infrastructure across the Gulf, and set fire to the UAE's Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. Strikes reached Manama, Kuwait International Airport, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and Erbil International Airport and the US Consulate General in Erbil. The US Fifth Fleet's home in Bahrain was among the targets. Tehran threatened to hit every economic hub in the Middle East if the strikes on Iran continued. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait subsequently launched strikes of their own against Iranian targets — Gulf Arab states entering open war with Iran for the first time.
Commanders