Reports emerged that, in response to attacks by Iran on neighboring Middle Eastern countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) directly struck Iran for the first time. However, the UAE denied this.

The Israeli outlet Yedioth Ahronoth reported on the 8th (local time) that the UAE recently carried out an airstrike targeting an Iranian desalination plant. Israel is said to regard this UAE military action as a warning message to Iran.

Among desalination plants reported by the Iranian government as having been hit, the only case so far is on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed the previous day that a civilian desalination facility on Qeshm Island was destroyed in a missile attack. Identifying United States forces stationed at the Juffair base in Bahrain as responsible, Iran carried out retaliatory strikes on Bahrain desalination facilities with missiles and drones.

Yedioth Ahronoth also predicted that “if Iranian attacks expand, the UAE may join the offensive (against Iran), even on a limited scale”.

However, the UAE Foreign Ministry stated in a release that it “is exercising the right of self-defense against brutal and unjust acts of aggression by Iran” but did not mention any strike on a desalination plant. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Defense·Interior·Foreign Affairs Committee Chair of the Federal National Council (FNC), a quasi-legislative body of the UAE, posted on X(X) calling the reports of a desalination plant strike “fake news” and wrote that “if we do something, we have the courage to announce it”. He added, “we do not equate Iranians with the Iranian regime” and “Iranians are the true victims of the regime and the ones who suffer most under its policies”.

The Israeli outlet the Jerusalem Post, citing remarks by Chair Al Nuaimi, reported that “a senior UAE official denied allegations that the country was involved in an attack on Iranian desalination facilities”. It also reported that, if the UAE takes part in the fighting, it would target military facilities rather than civilian ones in Iran.

Earlier, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued his first official statement since the United States·Israel and Iran began clashing on the 7th (local time), stating that “the UAE makes the safety and security of all citizens, residents, and visitors its top priority” and that it “is fully prepared to confront threats”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech the previous day that “the interim leadership council approved a plan to halt attacks on neighboring countries as long as those countries do not attack Iran,” adding, “I personally apologize to neighboring countries that have come under attack by Iran”. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continued attacks on Gulf countries Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar after the announcement by President Pezeshkian.