Iran: US airstrike one month on. UAE denies attack on Tehran. Oil tanker ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defence has denied that Al Minhad airbase was hit by missiles, describing reports circulating in the media as “false”. The clarification comes after Iranian sources had claimed responsibility for an attack on US installations at the base. “The Ministry of Defence denies reports that Al Minhad Air Base was hit by missiles and confirms that such information is false,” reads a statement issued by the UAE authorities.

The ministry added that the Armed Forces remain on high alert to respond to any threat and protect the country’s “sovereignty, security and stability”.Shortly before, the same ministry had reported that the UAE Air Force had taken action against a drone spotted in the country’s territorial waters as it approached from Iran.

Iran has attacked US military targets in the Middle East, in response to the first American strikes on its territory in a month. The last US attack on Iran prior to yesterday took place on 29 July, in response to “an attempted surprise attack on US forces” in the region, according to a statement issued at the time by the US military. Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed on that occasion that they had responded to a US attack by striking two US air bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles, causing “serious damage”. The Jordanian army stated that it had intercepted eight missiles. Tehran also claimed to have targeted US military personnel at an airbase in the United Arab Emirates and to have shot down a US drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The flurry of attacks came after the United States announced yesterday that it had struck Iranian rocket launchers on the small island of Larak. Washington stated that its attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from deploying further sea mines in the strait, just days after the US had announced that it had completed the clearance of explosives from the waterway. Although a ceasefire was agreed in April and a memorandum of understanding for a final peace agreement was signed in June, no agreement has yet been reached.

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence has announced that the Air Force “responded to the sighting of a drone in the country’s territorial waters, coming from Iran”. In a statement published on X, the Ministry emphasised that the Armed Forces remain on high alert to deal with any potential threat, whilst air defence systems continue to monitor and protect the country’s airspace 24 hours a day. The news comes after the Iranian military claimed to have carried out a drone attack on the US military base at Al Minhad in the United Arab Emirates.

“We are not seeking war, and this is the clear message we have conveyed to the world so far, but we will never stand idly by in the face of any aggression and will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian this morning, as quoted by IRNA, in response to the recent US attack on Iran. “Instability in the region is not in the interests of any country and will pose a challenge for everyone,” he added.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy stated today in a press release that “a supertanker that had breached regulations caught fire spectacularly after striking two sea mines”.

“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has claimed that the attacks carried out by US forces to prevent it from laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz constituted an ‘act of aggression’. This claim is completely false.” US Central Command wrote this on its X account, explaining that the attack on the Iranian launchers at Larak was “a limited and precise action against Pasdaran units engaged in laying mines, which posed an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz”.

An American official has confirmed to Fox News that Iran is attacking US forces in Jordan, after the latter struck two Iranian missile launchers on the island of Larak. According to the source, no significant impacts have been reported so far and almost all of the incoming missiles have been intercepted.

Iran has fired missiles towards Aqaba and the Muwaffaq Salti base in Jordan, where US military forces are stationed: this is according to Arab sources cited by the Iranian Fars news agency. The same sources, also reported by other Iranian media outlets, spoke of “several explosions” in various parts of Jordan. Fars notes that Tehran had promised a response to the US raid on the island of Larak.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have stated that the United States “will be punished” for the attack carried out on the island of Larak. This was reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “In an act of aggression”, the United States “attacked the island of Larak, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of some of our fighters and citizens. This action will be punished and will lead to the punishment of the aggressor”, it stated. Tasnim also reports that initial unofficial reports indicate that, following the attack, “so far two people have been killed and two have been injured”.

US forces have attacked two Iranian launchers on the island of Larak. A US official told Axios that the raid was launched after “Pasdaran forces had been observed preparing to fire rockets laden with naval mines towards the Strait of Hormuz”.