[News] Inside the Secret UAE War on Iran – WSJ Report Reveals Covert Emirati Strikes

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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Inside the Secret UAE War on Iran – WSJ Report Reveals Covert Emirati
StrikesMay 12, 2026
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Tehran views Abu Dhabi as a pillar of the US-Israeli strategic order.
(Photo illustration: The Palestine Chronicle)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE secretly carried out direct
military strikes on Iran during the war.

Key Takeaways

   - The UAE reportedly struck Iran’s Lavan Island refinery in early April,
   severely damaging its operations.
   - The US quietly welcomed Emirati participation, according to people
   familiar with the matter cited by the WSJ.
   - Iran responded by launching thousands of missiles and drones at the
   UAE, deepening the regional scope of the war.

The United Arab Emirates secretly carried out military strikes against Iran
during the recent US-Israeli war, according to a report by The Wall Street
Journal, marking a major escalation that effectively transformed the Gulf
monarchy into “an active combatant” in the conflict.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report said Emirati forces
conducted attacks on Iranian targets, including a strike on a refinery on
Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf in early April.

The attack reportedly coincided with the period when US President Donald
Trump was publicly announcing a ceasefire after five weeks of war.
‘Enemy Attack’

“The strikes, which the U.A.E. hasn’t publicly acknowledged, have included
an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf,” the
report stated.

According to the newspaper, the refinery strike “sparked a large fire and
knocked much of its capacity off line for months.”

Iran later confirmed that the facility had been hit in what it described as
an “enemy attack” and responded by launching “a barrage of missile and
drone strikes against the U.A.E. and Kuwait.”

The report said Washington quietly supported Abu Dhabi’s participation in
the war effort.

“The U.S. wasn’t upset by the attack, as the cease-fire hadn’t yet settled
into place, and it has quietly welcomed the participation of the U.A.E. and
any other Gulf states that want to join in the fight,” one source told the
newspaper.

The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment directly on the allegations
but referred to previous statements asserting the country’s “right to
respond—including militarily—to hostile acts.”
Fundamental Shift

The WSJ report portrayed the Emirati intervention as part of a broader
shift in Gulf strategy following unprecedented Iranian retaliation against
regional states during the war.

Iran reportedly launched “more than 2,800 missiles and drones” at the UAE,
“far more than any other country, including Israel,” according to the
report.

Those attacks severely disrupted the Emirati economy, including air
traffic, tourism and the property market, while prompting “a wave of
furloughs and layoffs.”

The Wall Street Journal said the attacks pushed Abu Dhabi toward a more
confrontational posture toward Tehran.

“The attacks have … led to 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,” Gulf officials told the newspaper.

Military analysts quoted in the report highlighted the UAE’s advanced
capabilities and growing willingness to deploy them.

“It’s significant to have a Gulf Arab country as a warring party that
struck Iran directly,” said Dina Esfandiary, a Middle East analyst and an
author, cited by the paper.

Speculation about Emirati involvement had circulated since March, when
unidentified fighter jets were reportedly seen operating over Iran.

Researchers cited by the newspaper pointed to images allegedly showing
“French Mirage fighters and Chinese Wing Loong drones—both used by the
U.A.E.—in action in Iran.”

The report noted that the UAE possesses “a highly trained and capable air
force” equipped with French Mirage aircraft, advanced F-16 fighters,
surveillance drones, aerial refueling planes and command-and-control
systems.

“They are very strong in terms of precision strike, air defense, airborne
surveillance, refueling, and logistics,” retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave
Deptula told the newspaper.

“If you have that capable of an air force, why would you sit back and
absorb attacks from Iran without responding?” he added.
Collaborating with Israel

The report also said the UAE supported draft UN resolutions authorizing the
use of force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and took measures against
Iranian financial interests by restricting visas and shutting down
Iranian-linked institutions in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Tehran has repeatedly accused the UAE of collaborating with
Israel and the United States in the war effort.

The report comes amid growing indications that the war against Iran
expanded far beyond direct US and Israeli aggression, drawing Gulf states
deeper into the conflict despite earlier public claims of neutrality.

The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, declaring that
the objective was to eliminate Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, weaken its
missile arsenal and undermining the Iranian government.

However, Iran responded with large-scale missile and drone attacks
targeting Israeli, American and regional military and strategic
infrastructure, fundamentally reshaping the regional balance and exposing
the vulnerability of Gulf states heavily dependent on economic stability
and international investment.

*(WSJ, Iranian Media, PC)*
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