Report Reveals UAE Secretly Struck Iran Amid US-Israeli War

(MENAFN) The United Arab Emirates has been covertly conducting a series of offensive strikes against Iran throughout the ongoing US-Israeli conflict, a bombshell report published Monday revealed.

Among the targets was a refinery on Iran's Lavan Island, anonymous sources familiar with the operations told The Wall Street Journal. The facility was hit in early April — just as US President Donald Trump was preparing to announce a ceasefire with Tehran — igniting a massive fire and forcing the refinery offline, the Journal reported.

Iran responded swiftly, launching waves of ballistic missiles and drones at both the UAE and Kuwait. One source indicated that Washington quietly endorsed the Emirates' entry into the conflict.

According to the Journal, Iran has directed more attacks at the UAE than at any other nation — including Israel — executing over 2,800 combined missile and drone strikes against the Gulf state.

The relentless assault has carved deep wounds into the UAE's economy, triggering widespread layoffs and furloughs. The campaign has "prompted a fundamental shift in the country's strategic outlook to one that now sees Iran as a rogue actor bent on undermining the country's economic and social model based on expatriate talent and a reputation for safety and stability," anonymous Gulf officials told the Journal.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to address the strikes directly when approached by the newspaper, instead directing reporters to a previously issued statement affirming Abu Dhabi's right to respond to hostile acts.

"It's significant to have a Gulf Arab country as a warring party that struck Iran directly," Dina Esfandiary, a Middle East analyst, told the Journal. "Tehran will now aim to further drive a wedge between the U.A.E. and other Gulf Arabs who are trying to mediate an end to the war."

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