Dubai news highlights| UAE continues to thwart Iranian attacks; Talks on end of West Asia war drag on

A US-Israeli attack that targeted the gas pipeline of Iran’s Khorramshahr power plant did not disrupt its operations or cause any casualties, Iran’s Fars news agency cited the local governor as saying.

The UAE has had significant toll in the US-Iran war, with at least eight killed and 160 injured.

Explosions are heard in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The death toll from the US air attack on the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Anbar has risen to 14.

Al Jazeera had reported that the attack on the PMF operations command headquarters in Anbar targeted the head of the group, Saad Dawai, who was among those killed.

Cathay Pacific has extended the flight suspensions to Dubai, Riyadh until May 31, AFP reported.

Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy has denied reports circulating on social media claiming that certain areas are scheduled for planned electricity cuts in the coming hours.

The Ministry confirmed that the list being shared is outdated and dates back to 2024, and has no relation to the current situation.

This comes after seven power transmission lines were taken out of service due to falling debris linked to air defence interceptions.

Sirens have sounded in southern Israel, including Dimona and nearby towns, after the army said it detected a new wave of Iranian missiles fired towards the country, according to Israeli media reports.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is extending its suspension of flights to Iran and other destinations in the Middle East for several more months as the war grinds on.

Flights to Dubai and Tel Aviv are halted until May 31, while services to other cities — including Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Tehran — are suspended until October 24, Lufthansa said.

Affected passengers can rebook free of charge or receive a full refund.

The move comes after British Airways, part of airline group IAG SA, prolonged its reduced flying schedule until May 31.

Bahrain's Civil Defence has managed to extinguish a fire that broke out at a facility belonging to a company as a result of the what the country's athorities called “sinful Iranian aggression.”

Authorities said that the relevant authorities have begun cooling procedures at the site.

The Philippines said grounding planes due to a shortage of jet fuel brought on by the US-Israeli war with Iran is a "distinct possibility", Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing an interview with the South East Asian country's president.

Several countries have informed Philippine airlines they cannot refuel aircraft, forcing Philippine operators to carry fuel for both outbound and return journeys, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told Bloomberg.

Other Asian countries, including Vietnam, have said airlines are preparing to ​implement fuel surcharges on international routes from early April.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Tuesday to discuss the latest regional and international developments linked to the ongoing Iran conflict, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.

During the call, Araghchi outlined Tehran’s position on the US-Israeli strikes, describing Iran’s response as “firm and legitimate self-defence.”

Dubai gold prices fell again on Tuesday morning, extending a two-week downward trend that has pulled rates sharply lower from early March highs. At 8:30 am, 24-karat gold stood at Dh523.25, down from Dh530.75 a day earlier, while 22-karat slipped to Dh484.75. The continued decline reflects ongoing pressure from rising inflation risks and interest rate expectations, keeping buyers cautious as they wait for signs of stability.

Amazon said it is helping to migrate customers to alternate AWS regions while it recovers, though it did not provide additional details such as the extent of the damage or how long it anticipates the disruption to last.

"As this situation evolves and, as we have advised before, we request those with workloads in the affected regions continue to migrate to other locations," Amazon said in a statement Monday night.

A number of people are receiving treatment after being injured in the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel, Israel’s emergency service said.

In a statement on Telegram, the Magen David Adom emergency service said that, so far, there were no known fatalities from the latest missile salvo.

“Updates will be provided later if necessary,” it added.

Gold prices fell more than 1 per cent on Tuesday, extending their slide to a tenth straight session, pressured by a firm U.S. dollar and fading hopes for near-term Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Spot gold declined 1.5 per cent to $4,340.63 per ounce, as of 0418 GMT, losing about 22 per cent in 10 sessions.

In the previous session, the metal fell to $4,097.99 per ounce, its lowest level since November 24, before paring some losses.

Search and rescue personnel have been deployed to several areas in southern Israel following reports of missile impacts in the country, the Israeli military said.

“The public is requested to avoid gathering in these areas,” the military said in a brief message posted on X.

There was no immediate information on possible casualties or damage sustained during the attacks.

The United States will continue its strikes on Iran, with the pause applying only to attacks on Tehran's energy sites, Semafor reported on Monday, citing a US official, during what President Donald Trump has described as "productive" talks with unidentified Iranian officials.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had postponed for five days a plan to hit Iran's energy grid. Iran later denied that it had engaged in negotiations with the United States.

"The stop on attacks for five days is only on their energy sites," a US official told Semafor.

"It is not on the military sites and the navy, and the ballistic missiles, and the defense industrial base. The initial initiatives of (Operation) Epic Fury will continue," he told the news agency.

Amazon said its Amazon Web Services region in Bahrain has "been disrupted" amid the current conflict in the Middle East.

The disruption is due to a drone activity in the area, an Amazon spokesperson said, following a Reuters inquiry. Amazon said it is helping to migrate customers to alternate AWS regions while it recovers.

According to a Reuters report, amazon has said that the disruption in AWS services in Bahrain region has been caused by drone activity.

Amazon has announced that the AWS cloud services are currently disrupted in the Bahrain region, Reuters reported.

Pakistan is positioning itself as the lead mediator trying to broker an end to the US’s and Israel’s war against Iran, the Financial Times reported.

Pakistani army chief Asim Munir spoke with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, the newspaper reported, citing two people briefed on the call.

Iran's president and Pakistan's prime minister also exchange views on regional developments and consequences of US-Israeli war with Iran on regional, global security, according to Iranian media.

Israel’s air defence system has been activated after the military detected new incoming missiles from Iran, the military said in a message posted on Telegram.

“In the past few minutes, the Home Front Command has sent a precautionary directive directly to mobile phones in the relevant areas,” the military said.

The military has directed the public to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice.

Pro-government demonstrators have gathered on the main streets in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as they continue to denounce the US-Israel military war on their country, which is now in its 25th day.

Despite threats of new bombardments and heavy rain, people gathered on Tehran’s longest street, Valiasr, waving flags and blasting patriotic slogans on a loudspeaker in support of the government, according to images of the event shared by the Mehr news agency.

Hundreds of people also gathered well into the early morning of Tuesday at Enghelab Square, also known as Revolution Square, where images of the country’s current supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and his predecessors are prominently displayed.

Asian stocks rose Tuesday after Donald Trump delayed strikes on Iranian energy sites and hailed "very good" talks with Tehran but oil prices edged back up as optimism over a possible de-escalation of the Middle East war remained shaky.

Equity markets in New York jumped and crude plunged Monday after the US president made the surprise announcement that he would hold off fresh attacks on energy infrastructure for five days following negotiations with an unidentified "top person".

The news ramped up hopes for an end to the conflict and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of oil and gas flows.

Global air travel remains severely disrupted after the war in Iran forced the closure of major Middle Eastern hubs, including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.

EMIRATES

The UAE airline said it was operating a reduced flight schedule following a partial reopening of regional airspace.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

The UAE carrier said it was operating a limited commercial flight schedule between Abu Dhabi and select destinations.

QATAR AIRWAYS

The carrier said it would operate a revised limited number of flights until March 28.

INDIGO

The carrier has suspended operations to Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah until March 28.

AEGEAN AIRLINES

Greece's largest carrier has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until April 22, and to Erbil and Baghdad until May 24. Flights to Dubai have been cancelled until April 19 and to Riyadh until April 18.

AIRBALTIC

Latvia's airBaltic said all flights to Tel Aviv had been cancelled until April 29. All flights to Dubai stand cancelled until October 24.

AIR CANADA

The Canadian carrier has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until May 2 and to Dubai until March 28.

AIR EUROPA

The Spanish airline has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until April 10.

AIR FRANCE KLM

Air France has cancelled Tel Aviv and Beirut flights until March 28 and Dubai and Riyadh flights until March 24, including the March 25 departure from Dubai. KLM suspended flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai until May 17 and to Tel Aviv until April 11.

CATHAY PACIFIC

The Hong Kong airline has cancelled all passenger and cargo flights to Dubai and Riyadh until April 30. It has, however, added extra flights to London between March 21 and March 28 due to increased demand.

DELTA

The US carrier has cancelled its New York-Tel Aviv flights until May 31 and Tel Aviv-New York flights until June 1. The restart of its Atlanta-Tel Aviv route has been delayed, with flights to Tel Aviv paused until August 4 and from Tel Aviv until August 5.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

The Israeli carrier saidoperational constraints are preventing regular flights from Israel, except in rare, exceptional cases, and that it is continuing efforts to bring passengers home. The airline has also urged authorities to open Ramon Airport near Eilat.

FINNAIR

The Finnish carrier has cancelled its Dubai flights until March 29 and Doha flights until July 2, while continuing to avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel.

FLYNAS

Saudi budget airline Flynas has extended its suspension of flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria until March 31.

IAG

IAG-owned British Airways has extended cancellations of flights to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv until May 31 and to Doha until April 30, while adding flights to Bangkok and Singapore. Flights to Abu Dhabi remain suspended until later this year.

JAPAN AIRLINES

Japan Airlines has suspended scheduled Tokyo-Doha flights until March 31 and Doha-Tokyo flights until April 1.

LUFTHANSA GROUP

The German airline group, which includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways, has suspended flights to Tel Aviv through April 9, and to Beirut, Dubai, Amman, Erbil and Abu Dhabi until March 28. Flights to Tehran are suspended through April 30 and to Riyadh until April 5.

LOT

The Polish airline said all its flights to Dubai stand cancelled until March 28 and to Tel Aviv until May 31. It has also cancelled flights to Riyadh until April 30 and to Beirut from March 31 to April 30.

MALAYSIA AIRLINES

The Malaysian carrier has suspended all flights to Doha until March 28.

NORWEGIAN AIR

The low-cost airline has pushed back planned launches of its Tel Aviv and Beirut services to June 15, from April 1 and April 4, respectively. It has cancelled all Dubai flights through April 8.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines said it will extend the suspension of its Singapore-Dubai flights until April 30, and add services between Singapore and London Gatwick from March 31 to October 24, and on the Singapore-Melbourne route from March 29 to October 24 to meet higher demand.

TURKISH AIRLINES

Turkish Airlines has cancelled most Middle East flights until the end of March. SunExpress, its joint venture with Lufthansa, has cancelled flights to Dubai and Bahrain until March 23.

VIETNAM AIRLINES

Vietnam's flag carrier has planned to cancel 23 flights per week across several domestic routes from April.

WIZZ AIR

The low-cost airline has suspended flights to Israel until March 29, and to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Jeddah from mainland European destinations until mid-September.

PEGASUS

Turkey's Pegasus Airlines has cancelled its Iran, Iraq, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah flights until April 13. Flights to Riyadh have been cancelled until March 24