UN’s failure to stop Iranian attacks sending ‘dangerous signal’: Qatar 

Qatar has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take immediate steps to halt Iranian attacks on countries across the Middle East, warning that a failure to act sends a “dangerous signal”.

Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UN, on Wednesday condemned Iran’s missile and drone strikes on targets across the region as “a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter”.

“The continued targeting of our territory by the Islamic Republic of Iran does not reflect good faith, and impacts deeply the foundation of understanding upon which bilateral relations between our countries have been built,” she told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

“The Security Council must act [and] fulfil its responsibility. Failure to respond would send a dangerous signal that attacks against uninvolved neighbours carry no consequences,” she said.

Her comments came shortly before the Security Council voted in favour of a draft resolution denouncing the wave of Iranian attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Iranian forces began firing ballistic missiles and drones at what it said were United States and Israeli targets across the Middle East after the two countries launched a war against Iran on February 28.

But the Iranian strikes also have targeted civilian infrastructure, disrupting energy production and grounding flights for several days, particularly in hard-hit Gulf nations.

The US has confirmed its loss of eight US service members in the Iranian attacks since the war began, while deaths have also been reported by several regional countries, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

At least 1,255 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks across Iran, which Iranian officials say have targeted schools, hospitals and oil facilities, as well as thousands of residential buildings.

The escalating death toll has caused international concern and calls for de-escalation, but the war has so far shown no signs of abating.

Gulf leaders and their Western allies have increasingly voiced condemnation of the Iranian attacks, despite Tehran’s attempts to reassure countries in the region that it is only targeting US and Israeli interests.

On Wednesday, ⁠Oman’s ⁠Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ⁠condemned strikes on the country’s territory in a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the Omani state news agency.

The call came shortly after Omani authorities confirmed that drones had struck fuel tanks at the port in Salalah, leading to damage but no casualties.

Reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko said the Salalah attack caused a fire and a large plume of smoke.

But “the Omani state news agency, quoting energy ministry officials, said that no damage had been done to fuel-product flow in the country” or the continuity of oil supplies, Medvedenko noted.

Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said it intercepted and destroyed a drone flying towards the Shaybah oilfield while the Emirati authorities said they were responding to a new wave of Iranian strikes.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said in a social media post that its air defence systems were “intercepting ballistic missiles” while fighter jets were responding to “drones and loitering munitions”.

Qatar also responded to more Iranian firings on Wednesday, saying it thwarted three waves of missile attacks.