The Wall Street Journal reports:

The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said, casting the Gulf monarchy as an active combatant in a war in which it has been Iran’s biggest target.

Its military is well-equipped with Western-made jet fighters and surveillance networks. And the attacks suggest the country is now more willing to use them to protect its economic power and growing influence across the Middle East.

The strikes, which the U.A.E. hasn’t publicly acknowledged, have included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, the people familiar with the matter said. That attack took place in early April around the time President Trump was announcing a cease-fire in the war after a five-week air campaign and sparked a large fire and knocked much of its capacity off line for months.

Iran said at the time that the refinery had been struck in an enemy attack and launched a barrage of missile and drone strikes against the U.A.E. and Kuwait in response.

The U.S. wasn’t upset by the attack, as the cease-fire hadn’t yet settled into place, and it has quietly welcomed the participation of the U.A.E. and any other Gulf states that want to join in the fight, one of the people said. [Continue reading…]

The New York Times reports:

Iran’s foreign ministry issued an unusual warning on Wednesday to the “rulers of Abu Dhabi,” the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

It accused the tiny oil-rich state of conspiring with the United States and Israel against Iran, and threatened “dangerous consequences” unless the Emirates pulled away from those countries.

Instead, within hours, the Emirati state news agency reported that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the country’s leader, had taken a phone call from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. He expressed solidarity with the Emirates after the Gulf nation reported a renewed Iranian missile and drone assault earlier in the week.

The Emirates has faced more Iranian drone and missile strikes than any other country since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28, including some as recently as Friday morning.

The call with Mr. Netanyahu was one of many signs that, in the face of Iran’s attacks, the Emirati government has doubled down on its alliances with Israel and the United States. That remains the case even as President Trump and other American officials have appeared to downplay the attacks this week on the Emirates in the midst of a cease-fire. [Continue reading…]