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Attacks continued to hit the UAE on day four of the US-Israel-Iran war, but officials urged calm

From the US consulate in Dubai to a French base and a Fujairah port, the breadth of Iran’s attacks is widening further as we enter day five of the war
by enterpriseam adminUAE Edition
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We’re five days into the US-Israel-Iran war and analysts are still drawing up scenarios for how it might unfold. As far as impact on the ground: life remains somewhat normal, with people slowly going back to their daily routines (outside of work and school, anyway) in Dubai, though damage to digital — and oil — infrastructure is still a major concern.

Government officials addressed the public yesterday in a presser (watch, runtime:1:10:23) for the first time since the start of the war, reassuring residents and citizens of the efficacy — and durability — of the country’s air defense system, and reiterating their message that the UAE reserves the right to act in self-defense.

And there’s plenty of food to go around: Economy and Tourism Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri says we have four to six months’ worth of stockpiles of essential commodities on hand.

MEANWHILE- Commercial flights in and out of the UAE are still suspended until tomorrow, but officials are locking-in agreements with its neighbors to open up emergency flight routes. Sixty evacuation flights have left in recent days, and the goal is to get to as many as 40 flights per hour in the coming period, Al Marri said.

The general message was clear: We don’t want an escalation of the war, and dialogue is the best way forward.

But the UAE isn’t going to take endless punches, either: The government is reportedly weighing military action against Iran to deter future strikes on the UAE, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Axios. An Emirati attack on Iran would be unprecedented.

Officials here yesterday condemned again Iran’s attacks, with state news agency Wam signaling that the UAE’s patience isn’t infinite.

Where do things stand this morning?

Here’s what we know as of dispatch time:

  • A drone strike near the US consulate in Dubai resulted in a fire that authorities contained with no injuries reported, according to Dubai Media Office ;
  • Falling debris from a drone hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone yesterday morning, though no injuries were reported and operations later resumed, authorities saidon X ;
  • The Defense Ministry said it knocked out 11 ballistic missiles and 123 drones yesterday, with only one landing in UAE territory;
  • A drone hit a hangar at a French facility in one of its naval and air bases in the UAE, prompting Paris to deploy Rafale fighter jets over the UAE for protection, France24 cites Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot as saying;
  • Drones struck a fuel tank at Oman’s Duqm port, the second time the facility has been targeted this week, though damage was contained and no casualties were reported.

SOUND SMART- The attack on Fujairah is something to keep an eye on: Fujairah houses our sole bypass around the Strait of Hormuz — the Adcop, or the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which connects Adnoc’s Habshan crude oil processing plant in Abu Dhabi with the Fujairah export terminal on the Indian Ocean. We did a deep dive into the pipeline’s importance in a story last year — check it out here.

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