The United Arab Emirates carried out dozens of airstrikes on targets in Iran during the recent U.S.- and Israeli-led war, in operations coordinated with Washington and Jerusalem and extending through the day after an April ceasefire was announced, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the Journal, the UAE began striking Iran in the early days of the war, that erupted on Feb. 28, and continued its attacks even after a two-week truce between the United States and Iran was announced in early April following mediation by Pakistan.
Emirati strikes hit sites including Qeshm and Abu Musa islands in the Strait of Hormuz, the port city of Bandar Abbas, an oil refinery on Lavan Island and the Asaluyeh petrochemical complex, according to the Journal. Some of the attacks targeted Iranian energy facilities in response to Tehran’s missile and drone strikes on Emirati oil and gas infrastructure.
Iran targeted the UAE—an ally of the U.S. and Israel that joined the Abraham Accords in 2020 under the first Trump administration—with more than 2,800 missiles and drones, far exceeding attacks on other regional countries, including Israel.
These Iranian attacks on the Emirates fueled a hawkish Emirati response that widened rifts with fellow Gulf state Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials complained to the U.S. that Emirati strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure risked provoking further attacks on regional facilities, potentially disrupting global oil markets, the paper reported.
The UAE backed U.N. draft resolutions authorizing the use of force to secure the Strait of Hormuz and moved against Iranian financial and cultural interests in Dubai, including schools and clubs linked to Tehran and visas for Iranian citizens, according to the report.
The newspaper said the campaign deepened the UAE’s security ties with Israel, which deployed Iron Dome batteries and troops to the Emirates, and contributed to Abu Dhabi’s decision to withdraw from OPEC and emphasize defense cooperation with the United States and Israel. Senior Israeli officials secretly visited the UAE during the war, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as the heads of the Mossad and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
