Israel has sent Iron Dome air defence batteries and military personnel to the United Arab Emirates or UAE during the ongoing conflict with Iran, said US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to Israel. Speaking at the Tel Aviv Conference on Tuesday, Huckabee described the move as a sign of the growing strategic partnership between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, reported news agency Associated Press.
“I’d like to say a word of appreciation for the United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham Accord member. Just look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them,” Huckabee said at the event in Tel Aviv.
The comments by Huckabee underline the growing defence relationship between Israel and the UAE, countries long suspicious of Iran, as a shaky ceasefire still holds in the Iran war. It represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel’s military to the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
However, the narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran’s chokehold and appear at a standstill for the moment, raising the risk of the conflict breaking out again.
The development comes amid reports that the UAE itself may have played a covert role in the conflict.
According to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters, the UAE allegedly carried out secret military strikes inside Iran, including an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island, in early April. Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims.
The latest disclosures are likely to further intensify scrutiny over the widening regional alignment against Iran and the increasingly public nature of Israel-Gulf security cooperation.
