Air defences in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have intercepted missiles and incoming drone attacks from Iran.
The UAE Ministry of Defence said late on Monday afternoon that it was intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones across the country. It later reported that three missiles had been intercepted, with a fourth falling into the sea.
The strikes came as tension in the Gulf increased, with efforts to extend the ceasefire in the United States-Israeli war on Iran having failed to make a breakthrough, and rhetoric remaining elevated on both sides as they face off regarding the blockades in the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian military official said on state TV that “Iran had no plans to target the UAE”.
That was followed by a report from Tasnim news agency quoting another unnamed Iranian military source who said that if the UAE takes unwise” action against Iran, all of its interests will become targets.
The emirate of Fujairah said that an Iranian drone sparked a fire at an oil facility. Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze, the Fujairah Media Office said in a statement, adding that three Indian citizens had been moderately injured during the attack and taken to hospital.
The drone attacks shattered a period of relative calm in the UAE since a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between Washington and Tehran began on April 8, pausing more than two months of fighting in the Gulf region.
The UAE was heavily targeted by retaliatory strikes from Iran, and intercepted and destroyed thousands of Iranian drones and missiles.
Tension was high throughout Monday after Donald Trump declared that the US military would start an operation to help trapped commercial vessels leave the blockaded Strait of Hormuz by guiding them through the waterway.
The president claimed it was a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
Iranian media reported that Iran’s navy had fired “warning shots” at US warships near the strait.
The UAE strongly condemned an Iranian drone attack on the oil tanker Barakah off the coast of Oman. UAE state oil giant ADNOC reported that no one was injured and the vessel was not loaded.
Negotiations between Washington and Tehran have been deadlocked since the ceasefire started on April 8, with Tehran’s stranglehold on the strait a main point of contention.
The ceasefire, reached via Pakistani mediation, was followed by direct talks in Islamabad on April 11, but no agreement was reached on a lasting peace.
Trump later extended the ceasefire without setting a new deadline, following a request from Pakistan.
‘Dangerous escalation’
The renewed Iranian strikes drew sharp condemnation from around the globe.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Aiman al-Safadi, condemned the “brutal attack” in a phone conversation with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Sajed al Nahjan, the Jordanian news agency Petra reported.
Bahrain called it a “dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region” and constitutes a clear violation of the ceasefire.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen called the strikes “a clear violation of sovereignty and international law”.
“These attacks are unacceptable,” she said on social media, adding that “security in the (Gulf) region has direct consequences for Europe”.
The EU will work with its partners “on de-escalation and diplomatic resolution, to bring an end to the Iranian regime’s brutal actions. Both against its neighbors and its own people,” she asserted.
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