ABU DHABI - Fresh strikes rocked Iran and several Gulf countries on Friday, as Israel and the Islamic republic unleashed a new wave of attacks in a war that has ignited the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the world economy.
Since erupting on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the war has cascaded throughout the region, drawn in global powers, and sparked a major oil shock.
Unusually powerful explosions rattled Tehran on Friday morning, AFP journalists reported, as Israel's military said it had hit more than 200 targets in western and central Iran in the past day.
The blasts shook the houses of two AFP journalists, located several kilometres apart in the north and centre of the Iranian capital, with black smoke pluming over the city.
Iranians speaking to AFP under cover of anonymity have painted a grim picture of life under the bombs, with cities in ruins and cash running short.
The United Nations refugee agency has estimated that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the Middle East war started.
Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people have been killed in the war, a figure AFP has not been able to independently verify.
Iran has launched waves of drone and missile strikes against neighbouring states hosting US military assets throughout the region.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said Friday its forces had intercepted dozens of drones, including one targeting its capital's Diplomatic Quarter.
AFP images showed black smoke hanging over the iconic skyline of Dubai after an attack on what was once considered a safe haven in a chaotic region.
Two people died from drone debris in Oman, according to state media there, while sirens rang out early Friday at Turkey's Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility housing US troops.
In a sign of the war's spread, President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of France's first soldier, in an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq.
Macron did not give details on the attack, or who was behind it, but France's military said earlier that drones hit a base where troops were taking part in counter-terrorism training with Iraqi counterparts.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian group in Iraq, Ashab al-Kahf, warned French interests in the region were a target after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier, but there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Elsewhere in Iraq, a US refuelling aircraft crashed, though the US military said it was "not due to hostile fire or friendly fire."
Iran's military however said in a statement carried by state TV that an allied group in Iraq had downed the aircraft with a missile, killing all its crew.