The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Monday that it had been targeted in a “very unjustified way” and stressed that it “will not participate in any attacks against Iran”. “Our bases are not being used to attack Iran,” said Jamal Al Musharakh, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, according to AFP.
“The UAE does not seek to be drawn into conflict or escalation,” he said.
The UAE ambassador’s comments come amid continued tensions in West Asia – which followed the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran on Saturday 28 February. Hours later that day, Iran launched retaliatory strikes – with explosions reported in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia – among other key Middle Eastern hubs – which are also home to US military bases.
UAE destroys 12 missiles, captures 17 drones
Earlier in the day, the UAE’s Ministry of Defense said the country’s air defense systems detected 15 ballistic missiles on Monday, of which 12 were successfully destroyed and three fell into the sea.
Musharakh said the UAE had come under more than 1,400 attacks since the start of the conflict – including attacks by cruise and ballistic missiles and drones – the “vast majority of which were intercepted and neutralized” by the country’s armed forces.
FILE – A black plume of smoke rises from a warehouse in the industrial area of Sharjah City following reports of Iranian strikes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)(AP)
He said the “unprovoked targeting” of civilian infrastructure such as desalination and power plants was “unacceptable”.
“Tragically, these attacks claimed four civilian lives as well as 114 minor injuries,” the ambassador said.
“The UAE and other Gulf countries are not parties to the conflict… There is no legal basis for targeting third-party states that are not involved in hostilities.”
“Very clear before and before…”
In addition to his claims that the UAE is the target, Musharakh also said that the Gulf countries are calling for a return to the negotiating table.
“Earlier and before the current events that we are witnessing in the region, we have made it very clear that as the UAE we will not participate in any attacks against Iran from our territory and that we will not engage in such a conflict,” he told the UN Correspondents’ Association ACANU.
“We were one of the countries that kept calling for the need for negotiation, the need for diplomacy, the need for de-escalation,” Musharakh said.
“And we have consistently communicated that our territories will not be used for any attacks against Iran. Yet we are being targeted, frankly, in a very unjustified way.”
The United States and Iran held a third round of indirect talks on February 26 in Geneva through Omani negotiators on Iran’s nuclear program.
Two days later, the United States and Israel launched the first wave of attacks in the war, which saw Iran strike targets in many countries around the Persian Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates.
