Despite the UAE’s best – and ongoing – efforts to promote a diplomatic solution to the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran, this week has seen war that has broken out between them thrust upon the Emirates and its millions of residents. Iran has lobbed hundreds of deadly projectiles at UAE cities and infrastructure. Although there have been some tragic casualties, more than 90 per cent of these have been intercepted.
A sober assessment of the UAE’s reaction to these waves of bombardment from Iran reveals an important fact: when stress-tested in real-time conflict, the Emirates has proved more than capable of defending itself.
So far, the UAE has been the hardest hit of all the countries Iran has targeted – including Israel. As of the last official count released by the UAE Ministry of Defence yesterday, Tehran’s forces have targeted the Emirates with nearly 190 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and more than 900 drones.
There is no sign of the country’s drone and missile defence capability waning. At a briefing in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Maj Gen Abdul Nasser Al Humaidi, official spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said the UAE has a “sufficient strategic stockpile of munitions to ensure the sustained execution of defensive and interception operations against various types of aerial threats over long periods”.
However, long periods of conflict are the last thing the government wants to see. This current war is already costing the entire region lives, affecting millions of civilians across the region, and the shadow it is casting over energy supplies could affect the global economy. And new fronts are already opening, as seen in Lebanon.
Diplomacy is not the easy option. Trust between the US and Israel on one hand, and Iran on the other, is close to zero. Similarly, Gulf states that worked to maintain lines of diplomacy with Tehran are understandably aghast at how their efforts have been rewarded with indiscriminate missile and drone attacks. Nonetheless, speaking at the Tuesday briefing in Abu Dhabi, Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation, described a return to the negotiating table as “the only rational way forward”.
At the same time, the Iranian attacks are proving ineffective both at intimidating the Gulf countries and deterring further Israeli and American attacks. Instead, they only amplify the message that Tehran’s leaders are reckless in their behaviour and willing to risk the lives and livelihoods of the Iranian people.
The UAE is proving that it can endure, adapt and recover; its reputation as a world leader in crisis management is assured. But, like just about everyone else, the country wants to see an end to war. The UAE has the strategic patience and planning to endure different conditions, but it is incumbent on the main protagonists in this war to bring it to an end as possible.
