Israel sent Iron Dome air defenses to the UAE to help Dubai shoot down Iranian drones. Tehran targeted Gulf states allied with the US in response to Washington and Tehran starting an unprovoked war.
Axios reported speaking with two Israeli and one US official who confirmed that an Iron Dome system, with IDF troops to operate it, was sent to the UAE early in the war with Iran. The UAE came under attack after the US and Israel attacked Iran.
Tehran asserted that states in the region that hosted US military bases and aided the attack on Iran were legitimate targets. The UAE reported it was attacked with over 500 Iranian missiles and 2,000 drones.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other top US officials were reported to be surprised by the size of the Iranian response to the US and Israeli attack. After a few days, Gulf states were running out of missile interceptors, leading leaders to scramble to find more.
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to send the Iron Dome to the UAE after speaking with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed.
The UAE is a party to the Abraham Accords. While presented as a peace agreement between Israel and Arab countries, the Accords have served as a program for building an anti-Iran bloc.
