Oil transfer pipes and storage silos that are part of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, referred to as Adcop, located in Fujairah, UAE, on July 15, 2012. The pipeline goes around the Strait of Hormuz. Duncan Chard/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Archive
Iran’s assaults principally impacted the UAE throughout the conflict. On Monday, it was struck once more, nearly a month after a truce between Iran and the United States. No other state was affected, and the ceasefire is mostly maintaining.
Here’s the reason Iran might have launched an attack on the nation:
Managing energy distribution: Amid war-related interruptions, the UAE has maintained a higher flow of crude to international markets compared to its neighbors dependent on the now-closed Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline at Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman, was constructed specifically to avoid Hormuz – and that was the target of an attack on Monday, along with a UAE-connected tanker near the strait. Oil prices surged.
Just prior to the attacks, the navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a map depicting a “new control area of the Strait of Hormuz” that encompassed Fujairah, located outside the waterway. The action coincided with the launch of the US’s “Project Freedom” aimed at reopening navigation through the strait. The timing indicates Iran was expressing both the intent and ability to interfere with energy distribution throughout the larger area.
Relations with Israel: The conflict has brought Israel and the UAE nearer together. Authorities anticipate that relations will strengthen, and insiders reveal that Israel has made the unusual move of providing the UAE with its missile defense systems and sending troops to an Arab nation for the first time. This occurs as the UAE indicates a noticeable strategic shift, distancing itself from conventional Arab and Muslim partners due to what it perceives as their inadequate reaction to Iranian assaults.
Soon after the UAE was struck, an Iranian military source was quoted by Tasnim news cautioning that Abu Dhabi “will receive a lesson they will never forget” if it turns into “a pawn for Israel.”
“If it seeks to repeat the error of the 40-day conflict, we will entirely forsake restraint and regard this Zionist stronghold as integral to the Zionist regime.”
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