The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Caught in the Middle of U.S.-Iran Tensions as More Iranian Missiles Rain Down

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[The Financial News] The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has repeatedly been targeted by Iran amid a war of nerves during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, said on the 8th local time that it was again hit by a long-range attack from Iran. It was the second such incident this month.
According to Al Jazeera, the Qatari pan-Arab broadcaster, the Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates said in a statement that it was responding to an Iranian missile and drone attack. The ministry also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that air raid sirens sounded across the UAE as it confronted the missile and drone assault. It urged the public to remain calm and follow safety and security instructions issued by the authorities. It also warned people not to approach any debris or fragments that fell to the ground after the interceptions. The UAE had previously deployed South Korea's M-SAM Block II, a medium-range surface-to-air guided missile system, in responding to Iranian airstrikes and was reported to have achieved an interception rate of 96%.
Iran had periodically fired missiles and drones at the UAE, a major pro-U.S. country in the Middle East, from February through March after the United States and Israel struck Iran in February. Those attacks on the UAE stopped after the ceasefire with the United States on the 7th of last month, but they resumed this month. When the United States launched its so-called "liberation project" on the 4th to open the Strait of Hormuz and deployed a large number of troops to the area, Iran struck the Port of Fujairah, an oil export port in the UAE located outside the strait, with missiles and drones that same day.
Relations between the United States and Iran appeared to ease after reports on the 6th that the two sides had reached a previous memorandum of understanding on ending the conflict, but tensions quickly hardened again. On the 7th, the United States carried out airstrikes in southern Iran, saying Iran had blocked a U.S. warship from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran immediately claimed the move violated the ceasefire and retaliated.
pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter