{"id":2464,"date":"2026-05-06T13:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:30:17","slug":"why-was-the-uae-targeted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/?p=2464","title":{"rendered":"Why Was the UAE Targeted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Iran\u2019s Targeting of the United Arab Emirates in the 2026 War: Causes and Strategic Logic<\/strong><br><strong>By Dr. seyed Ali Moosavi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" dir=\"ltr\">On the evening of February 28, 2026, following joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities that resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched extensive retaliatory strikes. Within forty days, Iran fired 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles, and 2,256 drones toward the United Arab Emirates (UAE), making it the primary target of Iranian attacks\u2014more than any other country in the region. This paper examines the strategic logic behind Iran\u2019s targeting of the UAE, arguing that it was neither accidental nor merely retaliatory but based on eight categories of tangible and documented actions by Abu Dhabi. These include: hosting US military bases (notably Al Dhafra) as launchpads for operations against Iran; active lobbying to provoke the US and Israel into military action; growing military-security cooperation with Israel under the Abraham Accords, including the deployment of Israeli air defense systems and forces on Emirati soil; providing logistical-operational support for attacks on Iranian territory (including the strike on Khark\u00a0Island); blocking and seizing Iranian assets; expelling and harassing Iranian citizens; withdrawing from OPEC; and attempting to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The paper also addresses counterarguments, including the security dilemma of small states and the limitations of Iran\u2019s strategy. It concludes that the UAE\u2019s claim of neutrality does not align with its actions, and that Iran\u2019s targeting, while risky and paradoxical, was based on defensible grounds. The 2026 War has created a permanent rupture in Iran-UAE relations and altered the geopolitical map of the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Keywords:<\/strong> Iran-UAE relations, 2026 War, Persian Gulf security, Strait of Hormuz, Abraham Accords, military targeting, OPEC withdrawal, Iranian assets seizure, Three Islands dispute, Al Dhafra Air Base<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file aligncenter\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-b3254d1a-2219-4c34-a11e-207814f2657a\" href=\"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Why-Was-the-UAE-Targeted.pdf\"><strong>Why Was the UAE Targeted<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Why-Was-the-UAE-Targeted.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-b3254d1a-2219-4c34-a11e-207814f2657a\">\u062f\u0631\u06cc\u0627\u0641\u062a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran\u2019s Targeting of the United Arab Emirates in the 2026 War: Causes and Strategic LogicBy Dr. seyed Ali Moosavi Abstract On the evening of February 28, 2026, following joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities that resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders, the Islamic Republic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[581],"tags":[582,583,584],"class_list":["post-2464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-english","tag-iran-uae-relations","tag-persian-gulf","tag-strait-of-hormuz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2464"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2469,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions\/2469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raniamedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}