Iran Intensifies Pressure on UAE in Wartime Media Campaign
Maziar Motamedi
Iranian authorities have escalated their media campaign against the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of becoming a 'hostile base' for US and Israeli forces. The rhetoric, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warns of severe retaliation and underscores growing regional tensions over military cooperation and territorial disputes.
Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities are increasingly targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in wartime messaging, warning of stronger strikes against the country if the US and Israel resume attacks.
“The label of ‘neighbor’ for the UAE has been removed and replaced with ‘hostile base’,” Ali Khezrian, a member of Iran’s National Security Committee in Parliament, told state television earlier this week.
The UAE was also explicitly named in statements by the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of Iran’s Armed Forces this month, after Iran and the US exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz despite a cease-fire announced in April. The joint command, led by generals of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), directly addressed UAE leaders, demanding they not turn their country into “a den for Americans and Zionists, along with their military forces and equipment to betray the Islamic world and Muslims.”
The IRGC asserted that the UAE’s deepening military, political, and intelligence ties with the US and Israel are contributing to regional insecurity, warning of a “crushing and regrettable response” to any attack on Iran’s southern islands and ports.
The IRGC further stated that the UAE’s vital port of Fujairah lies within Iran’s maritime-controlled area in the Strait of Hormuz, meaning all vessels entering or leaving the port fall under Iranian jurisdiction. The port was attacked earlier this month, but Iran denies responsibility.
For its part, the UAE has consistently condemned Iranian attacks and asserted its right to retaliate, including by military means. The UAE has also ended visas for long-term Iranian residents, closed Iranian businesses, trade routes, currency exchange networks, and institutions.
The deteriorating relations have had significant consequences for Iran, which imports many goods from third-party markets, including China, via UAE ports. The Iranian government is trying to replace lost sea routes with overland routes through Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, and other neighbors, due to a US naval blockade of Iranian ports and soaring food inflation.
Why is Iran focusing on the UAE?
The US military has had a significant presence in UAE territory for years, including al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, which hosts thousands of US troops and advanced equipment, particularly radar and intelligence systems that the IRGC claims to have targeted in the war.
In 2020, the UAE, along with Bahrain and Morocco, signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel. US President Donald Trump expressed a desire to expand these deals, especially by persuading Saudi Arabia to join, but Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has stalled the process.
Since signing the Abraham Accords, Israel and the UAE have rapidly expanded military and intelligence cooperation. Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems has established a subsidiary in the UAE. In the current conflict, Israel has also deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system and dozens of troops needed to operate it to the UAE—a deployment unprecedented elsewhere in the Arab world.
The UAE also has a long-standing territorial dispute with Iran over the islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, which have been under Iranian control since 1971 and are considered critical for enforcing control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Has the UAE directly attacked Iran?
More than a week after the war began on February 28, Israeli media reported that UAE fighter jets carried out direct airstrikes on a desalination plant on Iran’s Qeshm Island. However, a senior UAE official dismissed the report as “fake news,” stating, “When we do something, we have the courage to announce it.”
In early April, a war program on Iran’s state television channel IRIB showed wreckage of a Chinese-made Wing Loong drone they claimed was shot down. The drone model had previously been used by the UAE against Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. Iranian state media also widely reported, though without clear sourcing, that UAE Mirage 2000-9 aircraft had conducted attacks on Iranian territory.
In response to these attacks, Iran immediately launched missiles and drones targeting primarily the UAE, followed by Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia—but not Israel. Since the war began, the UAE has suffered some of the most intense attacks from Iran, second only to Israel.
