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UAE Becomes Active Combatant in Iran War, Secretly Launching Strikes Against Islamic Regime
Gateway Pundit ^ | May 11, 2026 | Ben Kew

Posted on 05/11/2026 6:01:38 PM PDT by Red Badger

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been secretly carrying out attacks against Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The attacks included a strike on an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in early April, triggering a major fire and knocking much of the facility offline for months.

Iran acknowledged at the time that the refinery had been struck in what it described as an enemy attack.

Tehran later responded with missile and drone strikes against the UAE and Kuwait.

Breaking: The U.A.E. has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran https://t.co/f5xubUJXi5— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 11, 2026

While Gulf states publicly insisted before the war that they would not allow their territory or airspace to be used for attacks on Iran, the UAE became an active participant in the conflict after coming under sustained Iranian attack.

Iran launched more than 2,800 missiles and drones at the UAE during the war, more than against any other country besides Israel.

The attacks disrupted tourism, aviation, and property markets across the Emirates and reportedly triggered a major shift in Abu Dhabi’s strategic outlook toward Tehran.

U.S. officials are said to have quietly welcomed the UAE’s participation in the war effort, according to the report.

Footage captures the moments after a drone caused a fire at an oil facility in Fujairah.

The UAE says Iran fired 15 missiles and four drones on Monday, while Iranian state media is indicating Iran wasn’t behind the attack. pic.twitter.com/G7SimR4JCS— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) May 4, 2026

The Trump administration was not upset by the refinery strike because the ceasefire had not fully taken hold at the time.

The UAE has not publicly acknowledged carrying out strikes inside Iran. However, its foreign ministry pointed to previous statements asserting the country’s right to respond militarily to hostile acts.

Open-source researchers and analysts have increasingly linked UAE military assets to operations inside Iran.

You are either with the UAE or with the evil Islamic regime. No silence is accepted. Right now, the Islamic regime in Iran is targeting my beloved country, the UAE, with drones and missiles. The UAE is crushing them, intercepting, destroying, and defending not just its land, but…— Amjad Taha أمجد طه (@amjadt25) May 4, 2026

Images circulating online have allegedly shown UAE-operated French Mirage fighters and Chinese-made Wing Loong drones over Iranian territory.

The UAE possesses one of the most advanced air forces in the Middle East, including fleets of F-16s, Mirage fighters, surveillance aircraft, refueling planes, and armed drones.

However, the country remains at serious risk of economic catastrophe as a result of the conflict given its dependency on the Strait of Hormuz for importing goods and exporting its vast oil reserves.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Iran; War
KEYWORDS: armchairadmirals; armchairgeneralsoffr; fafo; habitualcomplainers; habitualcomplaining; iran; iranwar; uae

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1 posted on 05/11/2026 6:01:38 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Secretly???


2 posted on 05/11/2026 6:05:49 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try. )
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

They do it only at night............🙄


3 posted on 05/11/2026 6:09:41 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger

Imho Mr. President, it’s time to dial up a Linebacker 2 or Arc Light on Tehran.

5.56mm


4 posted on 05/11/2026 6:16:36 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Democrats: Not self aware, hypocrites, lacking morals who believe history begins when they wake up)
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To: Red Badger

I guess it’s not a secret anymore lol.


5 posted on 05/11/2026 6:20:37 PM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man, a subject.")
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To: ripnbang

They wore masks...............


6 posted on 05/11/2026 6:21:35 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

Don’t tell anybody.


7 posted on 05/11/2026 6:22:02 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (There is no gravity. The earth just sucks. )
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To: Red Badger

“The UAE possesses one of the most advanced air forces in the Middle East”

Dumping OPEC was a beautiful thing, hopefully a couple other countries will do the same. Haven’t trusted the Saudis since 9/11.


8 posted on 05/11/2026 6:26:10 PM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: Red Badger

They play “Hava Nagila” on the stereo as they fly through.


9 posted on 05/11/2026 6:30:47 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (If the Islamic Republic government is in power in Iran when the war is over, we will have lost.)
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To: Red Badger

Wow.


10 posted on 05/11/2026 6:31:41 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: Red Badger
If the WSJ & GP had been reading FReerepublic, they would have known weeks earlier that UAE had attacked Iran refineries
11 posted on 05/11/2026 6:34:35 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

Just the like their alcohol use, buggering little boys, etc. Secret.


12 posted on 05/11/2026 6:44:03 PM PDT by Henry Hnyellar
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To: Red Badger

Iran attacks on its Arabic neighbors created a huge divide between them.


13 posted on 05/11/2026 6:57:27 PM PDT by AZJeep (sane )
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To: AZJeep

Iran has always looked down upon their Arab neighbors. The Arabs know it, and they hate Iranians.........


14 posted on 05/11/2026 7:04:48 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Red Badger

For years the Gulf States tolerated Iran’s militancy in the Middle East so long as it did not affect them. This was wise for their national interests. Oddly they always assumed Iran would not try and close the Straits of Hormuz as they also needed it also to export their oil. They did not understand how insane the Mullahs and the IRG of Iran were, they are.

At that time the insane Mullahs were in control and only attacked Israel and American and Western assets in the Middle East. Over the last two months has been a degradation of control to the IRG. Oddly the IRG is fractured and command and control is no longer central. Trump today has no one in control to negotiate with.

Relative to the Uranium Iran has that we buried via bunker busters, it can be rendered unusable with a little innovation. Pack bunker busters with powdered plutonium and explode them underground via conventional explosives. Make the surface a 24 hour kill zone with drones carrying bomb-lets. A few predators with hellfire missiles to take out any heavy equipment that gets within a mile. A Specter Gun Ship hovering about makes a statement also.

“DO NOT GET NEAR OR YOU DIE.”

It would be a lot easier if they let us come in and dig it out and take it away.

What most do not understand is of the Shiite version of Mohammedanism and the 12th Imam. Per Shiite the 12th Imam is hiding in a well for many centuries waiting for the apocalypse and will then come out of the well and lead Shiite Muslims to world victory.

The atomic bomb would be the beginning of the Apocalypses regardless of who they hit be it Israel, the USA or Europe. At the same time they know they would be destroyed and thus the 12 Imam with his great powers emerge from the well and defeat all.

This logic makes negotiations difficult.

Iran made a fatal error in attacking the Gulf States. Their total economy is much greater that Iran’s economy. That means they can buy more weapons and kick your ass in the future. They did not do it in the past because you left them alone. Iran screwed up.


15 posted on 05/11/2026 8:28:37 PM PDT by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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To: Red Badger
They pummeled their neighbors with missile and drone attacks.

Now they claim exclusive authority over all shipping through Hormuz, demanding tribute from every vessel (except their own).

It's about time somebody hit them back. I don't know for sure, but I suspect a coalition of UAE and SA forces could finish off what's left of the IRCG.

16 posted on 05/11/2026 8:41:24 PM PDT by ZOOKER
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To: cpdiii

“ the 12th Imam is hiding in a well for many centuries waiting for the apocalypse and will then come out of the well”

Kinda like Groundhog Day?

🧐


17 posted on 05/11/2026 9:11:10 PM PDT by Salamander ( Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRDa)
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To: cpdiii

Poison the cache.

I like it.


18 posted on 05/11/2026 10:56:13 PM PDT by dadgum (Fight to WIN or do not fight at all)
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To: Red Badger; All
Add in this from Turkey

https://jihadwatch.org/2026/04/erdogan-on-israel-iran-and-the-kurds Erdogan on Israel, Iran, and the Kurds

Apr 30, 2026 2:00 pm By Hugh Fitzgerald

Here's a few clips from the well written article:

“Ankara does not want to see a new ‘surprise’ in the form of regime change,” Yanarocak notes. “They are interested in the continuation of the regime because if a revolution occurs, Turkey's monopoly as the primary bridge between the West and the Middle East simply disappears.”

Policy expert Jonathan Adiri agrees, suggesting that Turkey prefers a crippled neighbor over a liberated one.

Here's more explaining what goes on in the mid-east, a quagmire that few understand:

“Ankara does not want to see a new ‘surprise’ in the form of regime change,” Yanarocak notes. “They are interested in the continuation of the regime because if a revolution occurs, Turkey's monopoly as the primary bridge between the West and the Middle East simply disappears.”

(If you know anything about Turkey and erdogans son Bilal you realize they are small time criminals with big league tentacles. Erdogan uses everyone has no real hardcore mindset or patriotic bone in his body.He's all about how much he and his son can steal from anyone and everyone and how fast)

more from the link: Policy expert Jonathan Adiri agrees, suggesting that Turkey prefers a crippled neighbor over a liberated one.

“Turkey wants a non-nuclear, weak Iran,” Adiri says. “They want a sort of ‘weakened virus’ in the region. An Iran that is pro-Western and working with the Americans would become a magnet for foreign investment, which would directly hurt the Turkish economy.”

(Classic Erdogan)

Right now, Turkey sees itself as the chief Muslim interlocutor with America. It has been a member of NATO since 1952, and in the past, the Americans used the Incirlik air base to spy on the Soviets and to pre-position war planes in case of need in the region.

However, in recent years, Turkey has sometimes refused to allow the Americans to use that base to attack ISIS fighters in Iraq.

(why would turkey have an alliance with Isis)

Right now, Turkey continues, despite Erdogan’s hysterical anti-Israel animus, to be the main bridge between the Muslim world and the West, while Iran is a confirmed enemy of the West, especially of the United States, the Islamic Republic's “Great Satan.”

Perhaps the most potent driver of Erdogan’s anxiety is the Kurdish question. For decades, the Iranian and Turkish regimes have shared a common interest in suppressing Kurdish nationalist aspirations. A destabilized Iran could lead to the emergence of an autonomous or independent Kurdish entity on Turkey's southern border – a prospect Erdogan finds intolerable.

According to several sources, Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials pressured US President Donald Trump not to give a green light to an Israeli operation that would have resulted in Kurdish fighters in Iran starting a rebellion against the Iranian regime.

(My guess is that the 15 million Kurds in Iran are willing and able to go up against the IRGC and Erdogan knows it. Let's hope that Trump sees it as well and eventually gives support to both Israel and the kurds to taking out the IRGC which will take some time but likely is doable.)

For decades, the Israelis have had clandestine ties with Kurds in Iraq and Iran.

(this is key and shows the israelis can work with the kurds which would be a formidable force against the IRGC)

Beginning in the 1960s, Israel provided weapons and training to Kurdish forces — known as the peshmerga — in Iraq, and it still does. Since Muslim fanatics took over Iran 47 years ago, Israel has supplied weapons intermittently to Kurdish militias in that country as well.

After the American pullout of forces from Syria, Israel decided to supply weapons to Syrian Kurds in their quasi-autonomous stronghold of Rojava. Erdogan is fearful of any Kurdish separatist movement in Iran or Iraq or Syria, that if successful, might prompt the Kurds in Turkey to join forces with those other Kurds in order to realize the ancient dream of an independent Kurdistan. Turkey wants Iran to be weakened, but left strong enough to suppress the Kurdish militias inside the country.

(Once again classic Erdogan who wants it all)

The final solution to US involvement in Iran could easily be letting Israel unite with the Kurds to take on the ground effort in Iran while the US remains in a much smaller force than now. The US and Israel could provide logistics and bombing raids when necessary. A force like this could take out the IRGC especially if their money goes away.

( It could be the answer to a free Iran.)

Finally from the link:

Adira [sic] points out that Erdogan and Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan drew a red line with Washington regarding the use of Kurdish forces from Iraq to move against Iran.

Here's Erdogan always in the shadows:


19 posted on 05/12/2026 4:03:42 AM PDT by rodguy911
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To: All

I forgot to add if the addition of the UAE to Israel the kurds and the US were all united,Iran could be a free country in no time.Who knows what it would take for this to happen.


20 posted on 05/12/2026 4:05:35 AM PDT by rodguy911
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