Tehran fired more than 2,800 missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates during the war, more than at any other country, Israel included. The Emirates did not sit and absorb it. According to a Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar with the matter, the UAE flew dozens of airstrikes against Iran, a far bigger role than had been disclosed publicly.
The campaign started in the early days of the war and ran until a day after the April ceasefire was announced, the Journal’s sources said. They described it as coordinated with the United States and Israel, both of which supplied intelligence.
What was hit
Targets named in the report include the islands of Qeshm and Abu Musa in the Strait of Hormuz, the port city of Bandar Abbas, oil refineries on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf and Iran’s Asaluyeh petrochemical complex. Some raids went straight at Iranian energy facilities. These are believed to have been payback for Iranian attacks on the UAE’s own oil and gas infrastructure.
The Asaluyeh strike, carried out together with Israel, drew sharp reaction abroad. Per the Journal, it led Washington to press Israel to stop hitting Iranian energy sites.
Friction with Riyadh
Not every Gulf capital liked what Abu Dhabi was doing. Saudi Arabia reportedly told the US in early April that the UAE’s raids could make energy facilities across the region targets for Iranian retaliation, and it wants Washington to push the Emirates to end the strikes and put more effort into diplomacy. Riyadh condemns attacks in the Gulf publicly but takes a less confrontational line. Turkye Today read the scale of the Emirati response as a sign that Abu Dhabi is increasingly ready to use force to defend core strategic interests.
The UAE Foreign Ministry has said Iran bears full responsibility for the attacks and for what followed from the conflict. Iran has repeatedly accused the UAE of joining the US-Israeli campaign.
Israel inside the UAE
The Journal also reported that the war took UAE-Israel cooperation to a new level. Israel sent Iron Dome air defense systems and troops to protect the Gulf state, and dozens of Israeli soldiers are still at a military facility there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several senior security officials, among them the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet and the army chief of staff, reportedly traveled to the UAE in secret during the fighting to coordinate Iran-related operations.
Away from the battlefield, the UAE backs draft UN resolutions that would authorize force, if needed, to end Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz. It is also believed to have squeezed Tehran economically: schools and clubs tied to Iran in Dubai were closed, and Iranian citizens were refused visas and transit rights.
Lately, the Journal said, the UAE’s stance has shown signs of softening. It has been pushing diplomatic solutions as the long conflict keeps its strategic energy facilities directly at risk.
