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One month ago, a dangerous line was crossed.
Since February 28, the UAE has been the target of a sustained wave of unprovoked and terrorist drone and missile attacks, both ballistic and cruise, launched by Iran toward civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, airports and other facilities. Eleven people have been killed, and 178 have been injured.
This is truly an unprecedented moment in our nation’s history.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow but indispensable corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies transit each day. Its importance extends far beyond oil. Fertilisers critical to global agriculture, petrochemicals, industrial metals and goods moving between continents all pass through these waters, making any disruption a direct risk to global economic stability. Weaponising the Strait of Hormuz is not just an act of aggression against one nation; no country should be allowed to hold it hostage.
For years, Iran insisted its ballistic missile programme was a domestic matter. The past month has demonstrated the opposite with devastating clarity. There is no credible argument that such capabilities can coexist safely with regional or international stability when they are used in this manner – indiscriminately, irresponsibly and in violation of international law.
The UAE categorically rejects any narratives seeking to justify this aggression and views it as further evidence of Iran’s short-sighted policies. While the UAE has faced the largest number of unprovoked attacks during this escalation, our response remains measured, responsible and focused on protecting our people. The UAE remains safe, secure and well-protected.
Our integrated defence systems have been protecting the country with remarkable effectiveness. Our air defences have intercepted more than 95 per cent of incoming threats.
Life across the UAE continues with remarkable resilience and stability. Businesses remained open and fully operational. Communities held together. Life continued with the quiet confidence of a nation that had prepared for threats like this. Our institutions functioned without interruption. Our society of more than 200 nationalities did not fracture – it held firm. Resilience is not created in moments of war. It is designed long before they arrive.
On the evening of March 7, as air defence alerts were still sounding over Dubai, a fundraising event at the Burj Khalifa raised more than $300 million (Dh1.10 billion) for childhood malnutrition worldwide. I was there. A community that responds to being targeted by giving to children on other continents is not performing resilience. It is living it. That cannot be manufactured. And it cannot be bombed away.
But resilience, by itself, is not a foreign policy. A simple ceasefire is not enough. Diplomatic signals issued while missiles are still being launched are not de-escalation – they are aggression.
The historic UN Security Council Resolution 2817, co-sponsored by 136 countries, condemned in the strongest terms these unprovoked attacks and demanded that Iran immediately and unconditionally cease all provocations, including those targeting critical energy infrastructure and regional stability.
This was reinforced by the International Maritime Organisation Council’s decision, backed by more than 115 member states – the highest level of co-sponsorship in its history – which condemned Iranian threats against vessels and its purported closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a grave danger to life and a serious risk to the marine environment.
A UN Human Rights Council resolution, supported by over 100 states, has also called on Iran to provide full, effective and prompt reparations to victims, including those affected by attacks on energy systems and essential services.
We are also seeing strong diplomatic support from across the international community. Leaders from around the world have been in close and constant contact with the UAE, and 179 countries have condemned and expressed solidarity.
This sends a unified message: the international community will not tolerate attacks on sovereignty or the deliberate targeting of civilians and critical infrastructure.
We want a normal neighbour. An Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponises global trade and supports proxies directed at Gulf capitals is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape.
Which brings us to the question this moment demands – not about the past month, but about the next generation.
Do we want to leave our children a region where this cycle simply continues? Where every decade brings a new escalation, a new set of funerals, a new resolution that is noted and then forgotten? We want a guarantee that this will never happen again. That guarantee must come from lasting security arrangements: the disarmament of the capabilities turned against civilians; the permanent preservation of freedom of navigation; and a framework that enforces accountability rather than merely recording condemnation.
As President Sheikh Mohamed has said: "We will emerge stronger than before, without doubt."
Moments of pressure reveal what nations are made of. This past month delivered a clear answer about the UAE. The months ahead must deliver an equally clear answer from the international community, not another statement, but a structure that ensures this warning was the last one necessary.
Supported by its strong institutions, determined leadership and courageous people, we will survive and actually we will only grow and prosper.
