Iran claims to have struck an American oil tanker in the Gulf

Multiple rounds of explosions echoed over the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday just hours after officials said they were evacuating residents living near the U.S. embassy.

Gulf countries have been targeted by repeated waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks in retaliation for the massive U.S.-Israeli air campaign.

AFP journalists on the ground in Doha described Thursday's blasts as some of the most intense since Iran began targeting the Gulf state on Saturday.

A column of black smoke was seen on the Doha horizon, while Qatar's defence ministry said its military was working to intercept the incoming missile attack.

The targeting of Qatar on Thursday came hours after the country's prime minister lambasted Iran's foreign minister during a call, in the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Islamic Republic launched its missile and drone campaign.

Qatari Premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused Iran of seeking to "harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs," on the call with Iran's Abbas Araghchi, according to a statement by Qatar's Foreign Ministry.

Explosions were also heard in Bahrain's capital, Manama, on Thursday.

In neighboring Saudi Arabia, officials said they had intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones.

"Three cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed outside the city of Al-Kharj," the Saudi defence ministry posted on X.

Elsewhere, a tanker was hit by a "large explosion" in waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have said they had "complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint connecting the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and one of the world's most vital shipping routes for energy.