Iran's Foreign Ministry has pushed back against a sweeping security operation in the United Arab Emirates, rejecting as unfounded Abu Dhabi's claims that it dismantled a cell linked to Tehran and plotting terrorist acts on Emirati soil. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that the arrests were made under "baseless pretexts" and called on the UAE "to respect the rights and human dignity of individuals" and "refrain from retaliatory behaviour."
The UAE's State Security Service announced on Monday that it had detained 27 individuals accused of belonging to a network tied to Iran's Velayat-e Faqih doctrine — the theological principle of "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist" that underpins the Islamic Republic established after Iran's 1979 revolution and demands loyalty to its supreme religious leader. Authorities published the names and photographs of those arrested, charging them with establishing and operating a secret organisation, pledging allegiance to foreign entities, collecting and transferring funds to "suspicious foreign entities", and conducting covert recruitment and indoctrination operations. Emirati officials also alleged the group sought to spread extremist ideologies among Emirati youth and undermine the country's foreign policy.
The arrests come amid a period of sustained tension between Iran and its Gulf neighbours, triggered by the ongoing US-Israeli military conflict with Iran, during which Tehran has struck countries hosting American military assets. The UAE — a federation of seven emirates on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula — has absorbed more Iranian strikes than any other country in the region, though most were intercepted by air defences. Targets have included airports, energy infrastructure, and tourist areas. Earlier this month, the UAE said Iran should compensate it for damage caused by those attacks, and last month it announced the arrest of at least five individuals linked to both Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The diplomatic dispute highlights the deepening fracture between the UAE, which has positioned itself as a stable international business and tourism hub, and Iran, whose regional influence operations and military strikes have increasingly strained relations with Gulf neighbours. Tehran's dismissal of the charges as politically motivated contrasts sharply with Abu Dhabi's portrayal of a sustained, organised effort to destabilise the country from within — a gap in narratives that shows little sign of narrowing as the broader regional conflict continues.