RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Monday’s attacks on the UAE during a call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman reaffirmed his country’s support for the security and stability of UAE, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The call came after a the UAE’s Ministry of Defense intercepted 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones launched from Iran on Monday, resulting in three minoir injuries.
The UAE says the arsenal of munitions had been fired by Iran – a claim since denied by the Islamic Republic.
The attacks were marked by the sound of warning messages flashing up on mobile phones across the emirates – the first time since the start of the ceasefire that the alerts had been seen or heard.
The alerts urged residents to “immediately seek a safe place in the closest secure building.”
Fujairah oil facility targeted three injured
The UAE’s eastern emirate of Fujairah also said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at an oil facility. Fujairah is the terminus of a pipeline the UAE has used to avoid shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war.
Authorities in the emirate said three Indian residents were injured in the strike.
The UAE foreign ministry said in a statement the Iranian attacks marked a “serious escalation” and posed a “direct threat to the country’s security.” It added that it reserved the “full and legitimate right to respond” to the attacks.
Iranian denial
But Iranian state TV said Tehran had had “no plans to target UAE.”
A cargo ship also caught fire off the UAE coast on Monday, with the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center announcing the ship had caught fire, adding it was in the vessel’s engine room.
It confirmed the ship’s crew were all accounted for.
As the missiles were intercepted a defense ministry statement on X added: “The sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the successful interception of the aerial threats.”
Iran has launched more than 2,800 drone and missile attacks against the UAE since February 28, the first day of the US-Iran war, making it the most heavily targeted country in Tehran’s campaign against Gulf nations.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jassem Al-Budaiwi condemned Iran’s attacks on the UAE, describing them as “a serious act of aggression and a blatant escalation.”
