Explosions in Israel, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait

(Al Jazeera) -  Explosions rocked northern Israel as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles shortly after it attacked Iran. The blasts echoed just after the Israeli military said it would be using its air defence systems to bring down the Iranian fire. There was no immediate word on any casualties or damage from the ongoing attack.

Blasts also occurred across numerous Gulf Arab states that host US military assets, including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Iran’s Fars News Agency confirmed the country had carried out attacks targeting military bases in each of the states, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry said it had “successfully thwarted a number of attacks targeting the country’s territory”, after several rounds of alerts sounded.

The UAE’s state news agency reported one person was killed in Abu Dhabi after Iranian missiles were intercepted.

Muhanad Seloom, assistant professor in Critical Security Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that Iran wants to “raise the cost” for countries in the region that are close to the US.

“They are trying to draw other countries in the region into this war,” said Seloom. “They want to raise the cost for these countries, with the hope probably that these countries will pressure the US administration to stop this war.”