The United Arab Emirates announced on Sunday that it is closing its embassy in Tehran and recalling its ambassador. This is the strongest diplomatic response from any Gulf state since Iran began a large missile and drone campaign across the region. The attacks have killed four people, injured dozens, and damaged civilian sites from Dubai to Doha.
Iran’s Missile Strikes kills 4 in UAE
Closing the embassy reverses a diplomatic opening that lasted only three years. It shows a significant decline in Gulf-Iran relations at a time when the rich Arab monarchies feel, as security analyst Anna Jacobs put it, “really on the front lines of this brutal war.”
Iran’s attacks, now in their second day, have hit airports, seaports, residential areas, and hotels across the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Tehran calls this a response to a major US and Israeli air campaign that killed Iran’s supreme leader and other high-ranking officials.
3 foreigners died
The UAE’s foreign ministry condemned what it termed “hostile attacks against civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports, and service facilities.” It called these actions “a serious and irresponsible escalation” that put innocent civilians at risk.
3 foreign nationals, a Pakistani, a Nepalese, and a Bangladeshi citizen died in the UAE, according to Abu Dhabi’s defense ministry. A 4th person was killed in Kuwait, where Kuwaiti health officials reported that 32 others injured.
Iran seems to have targeted a building complex in Abu Dhabi that contains several foreign missions, including the Israeli embassy. Two people suffered injuries from debris during this incident at Etihad Towers.
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