The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes against Iran, and its sources presented the Gulf Arab state as an active combatant in the war, backing up Tehran’s allegations against Abu Dhabi.
The report said that one of the attacks included the bombing of oil infrastructure in Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, which occurred in early April, right after the ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect. At the time, Iranian media blamed the attack on the UAE, saying it was likely launched by the country’s French-made Mirage fighter jets, and Iran responded with attacks on the UAE and Kuwait.
Sources told the Journal that the US wasn’t upset with the UAE for attacking Iran after the ceasefire was supposed to go into effect because the truce hadn’t “settled into place,” and Washington was happy to see Abu Dhabi join in on direct attacks against the Islamic Republic.
Iranian media also reported that it had evidence of Emirati involvement in the war, pointing to the interception of a UAE Mirage fighter jet over Iran’s Jask island on March 22 and the April 1 downing of a Chinese WingLoong-2 drone, which, according to the reports, is “only in the possession of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.” The UAE also maintains a fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets.
Throughout the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, Iranian officials had said they were tracking attacks launched from the UAE’s territory, and many of Iran’s missile and drone attacks were focused on targets inside the UAE. Last week, Iran responded to President Trump announcing a new military operation to open the Strait of Hormuz by launching attacks on the UAE, though the Iranian military officially denied conducting the operations.
The lack of a US response to last week’s attacks reportedly led to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait restricting US military activity at their bases, resulting in Trump pausing the short-lived military operation, which he dubbed “Project Freedom,” though other reports said those restrictions have since been lifted, and the president may restart the effort. The UAE responded to the attacks by vowing that it had the right to respond, and if the US and Israel restart the full-scale bombing campaign, Abu Dhabi will likely be more directly involved than before.
The UAE has a partnership with Israel, a result of the normalization deals known as the Abraham Accords, which were signed during the first Trump administration, and Israel reportedly deployed an Iron Dome air defense battery to the UAE and IDF troops to operate it.
