Warning sirens and explosions were reported in the UAE as its Defense Ministry announced interceptions of Iranian missile and drone attacks. The incident follows a series of severe explosions in Tehran earlier the same day.
Warning sirens and explosions echoed across the United Arab Emirates on Monday as the country's military mobilized to intercept incoming aerial threats. The incident marks a severe escalation in regional hostilities, unfolding just hours after a series of massive explosions struck strategic infrastructure in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Al Arabiya Farsi, a Saudi-owned news network known for its critical stance on the Iranian government, reported an official statement from the UAE Ministry of Defense explicitly attributing the attacks. According to the network, the ministry declared: "We are countering Iranian missile and drone attacks, and the sounds heard are due to the interception of aerial threats."Iranian domestic media also corroborated the emergency situation in the Emirates, though notably without naming Iran as the perpetrator in their specific dispatches. Fars News Int, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cited the UAE Interior Ministry in reporting that "air defenses are countering a missile threat." The outlet further confirmed that "warning sirens have been activated in the UAE" alongside reports of explosions.
Similarly, the domestic Iranian news aggregator Akharin Khabar relayed reports indicating that warning sirens were active and that news sources were reporting the sound of explosions in the UAE.
The strikes on the UAE occur against the backdrop of an intense and rapidly developing regional crisis. Earlier on Monday morning, approximately 30 heavy explosions rocked western Tehran, damaging strategic infrastructure and setting aircraft ablaze at Mehrabad Airport. Local opposition networks and news channels have pointed to potential Israeli and United States involvement in the Tehran strikes.
Both Saudi-aligned and IRGC-aligned Farsi channels reported on the explosions and sirens in the UAE. However, Al Arabiya Farsi explicitly quotes the UAE Ministry of Defense identifying Iran as the source of the attacks, while Iranian state-aligned Fars News only reports that the UAE is countering a 'missile threat,' selectively omitting the UAE's attribution to Iran.