Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates on Monday, marking the most serious escalation since a US-brokered ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect on 8 April. The UAE Ministry of Defence confirmed it had intercepted three incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, with a fourth falling into the sea. In the emirate of Fujairah — a port city on the UAE's eastern coast facing the Gulf of Oman — an Iranian drone struck an oil facility, sparking a fire that injured three Indian workers, who were taken to hospital. Air raid sirens sounded across the country, including in Abu Dhabi, for the first time in more than a month. A senior Iranian military official subsequently stated on state television that Iran had not intended to target the UAE, though Tehran offered no formal explanation for the strikes.
The attacks came hours after US President Donald Trump announced what he called "Operation Freedom," a mission deploying guided-missile destroyers, over 100 aircraft and 15,000 troops to escort stranded commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf through which roughly a fifth of global oil trade passes. Iran has maintained a blockade of the strait since February, trapping an estimated 1,000 merchant ships and some 20,000 crew members. Iranian forces fired what state media described as warning shots at US warships near the strait, and a US admiral acknowledged to Reuters that cruise missiles had been fired at American vessels, though the White House disputed Iranian claims of turning back a warship. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy also published a map asserting expanded maritime control encompassing the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan. The UACC-flagged tanker Barakah was also struck by a drone off the Omani coast, and a South Korean-flagged vessel reported a fire and explosion in the strait.
The ceasefire reached through Pakistani mediation on 8 April, and followed by direct talks in Islamabad three days later, has now been stretched to its most precarious point. No lasting agreement had been reached, with Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz remaining the central sticking point. Trump extended the ceasefire without a new deadline at Pakistan's request, but on Monday he threatened to erase Iran "from the face of the Earth" if attacks continued. French President Emmanuel Macron, by contrast, said France would not participate in any military operation and called for a negotiated reopening of the strait.
Regional solidarity with the UAE was swift. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani telephoned UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to express strong condemnation of the Iranian strikes and full solidarity with the UAE in any measures it takes to preserve its security. The UAE Foreign Ministry reserved the right to respond, calling the attacks a "grave escalation" and a direct threat to national security. Notably, at least one missile interception was reportedly carried out by an Israeli air defence battery — systems that have been quietly deployed on UAE soil, underscoring the close security ties that have developed between the two countries since they normalised relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.
Financial markets reacted sharply. Brent crude jumped nearly 5% to over $113 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate rose above $105, reflecting fears of prolonged supply disruption through one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints. US stock indices declined, with the Dow Jones falling 0.86% and the S&P 500 dropping 0.45%, while gold — counter-intuitively — fell nearly 2% as a stronger dollar and renewed inflation fears dampened its appeal as a safe haven. OPEC+ had announced a further production increase the previous day, but analysts cautioned that higher output offers little relief if the strait remains closed to traffic.