A new frontier in the war?

Watch this space if the ceasefire fails: A drone from Iran targeted a Du building in Fujairah on Monday, resulting in a “minor incident” with no injuries reported, state news agency Wam reports. “They are now targeting other industries and other infrastructure, which qualifies as a slight escalation,” MENA Economist Hamzeh Al Gaood told EnterpriseAM.

This marks the first time Iran targeted state-owned telecom infrastructure in the UAE, though it did previously target Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Du is responsible for a massive chunk of the UAE’s digital and telecom infrastructure.

This development adds to the risk premium that had already existed since the start of the war. “It’s economic pain, and it’s increasing the level of threat and risk on the GCC,” Al Gaood added, explaining that there will be a risk premium attached to telecom infrastructure associated with the fact that investments might be needed to repair facilities.

Plus: Iran is still targeting industrial sites. An office building belonging to tech firm Raneen Systems in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD) in Mussafah was also hit yesterday, resulting in one moderate injury, Wam reported separately.