Report: UAE Has Been Secretly Striking Iran

The United Arab Emirates hasn't confirmed it publicly, but insiders say it is a direct combatant in the Iran war. The Wall Street Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter," reports that the UAE has quietly carried out airstrikes on Iranian targets, including an early April hit on a refinery on Iran's Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. That strike, around the time President Trump was announcing a ceasefire after a five-week air campaign, triggered a major fire and sidelined much of the facility's output for months, the sources say. Iran blamed an "enemy attack" and answered with a wave of missile and drone launches at the UAE and Kuwait.

The US has privately welcomed any Gulf state willing to join the fight, the Journal's sources say. The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the reported strikes, pointing instead to earlier statements asserting its right to respond militarily to threats. Analysts say it's a notable moment: "It's significant to have a Gulf Arab country as a warring party that struck Iran directly," says Middle East expert Dina Esfandiary, who predicts Tehran will try to deepen rifts between the UAE and other Gulf states seeking to mediate.

• Iran has already made the UAE its top target, firing more than 2,800 missiles and drones at the country—far more than at any other state, including Israel—damaging air travel, tourism, and the property market, as well at the state's reputation as a safe haven in the region.
• Once wary of being dragged into a wider conflict, the UAE has become one of Iran's most openly confrontational neighbors, tightening its military cooperation with the US, backing UN measures to authorize force to secure the Strait of Hormuz, and squeezing Iranian-linked businesses and travelers, the Journal reports.
• Defense experts say the Emirati air force—equipped with advanced F-16s, Mirages, refueling aircraft, and surveillance drones—now faces reduced risk after US and Israeli strikes degraded Iran's air defenses, making it, as one retired US colonel puts it, "a really good time" for allies who want in on the fight, because the threat at medium to high altitude "is really low."
• Analysts say the relationship between the UAE and Israel has been strengthened by the war. Last week, Iran issued what the New York Times calls an "unusual warning" to the UAE, saying the state would face "dangerous consequences" unless it pulled away from both the US and Israel.