The Shia-Suni Divide
The Wall Street Journal Bombshell — Published Today
The Wall Street Journal reported today, Monday May 11, that the UAE has secretly carried out military strikes on Iran — strikes it has not publicly acknowledged. The involvement of the UAE represents a significant shift in the balance of the war, bringing a well-armed Gulf Arab state directly into combat against Iran. The Times of Israel
What the UAE Actually Did
The covert strikes included an attack on a refinery on Iran's Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf in early April — around the time Trump was announcing the ceasefire. The strike sparked a major fire and knocked much of the facility's capacity offline for months. Iran described the blast at the time as an "enemy attack" but the Wall Street Journal has now linked the operation directly to the UAE. The Times of Israel
The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the strikes but pointed to previous statements in which it asserted its "full and legitimate right to respond" — including militarily — to hostile acts. Al Jazeera
Why the UAE Did It
The motivation is not hard to understand given what Iran has done to the Emirates:
Iranian forces have targeted the UAE more heavily than any other country during this war — launching more than 2,800 missiles and drones at UAE territory. The attacks disrupted air traffic, tourism, and real estate in the Emirates and triggered layoffs, prompting what Gulf officials describe as a fundamental shift in Abu Dhabi's strategic outlook. The UAE now views Iran as a rogue actor threatening its economic model and internal stability. The Times of Israel
As retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula — who planned the air campaign for Desert Storm — put it: "If you have that capable of an air force, why would you sit back and absorb attacks from Iran without responding?" The UAE has a highly trained force with Mirages, advanced F-16 fighters, refueling planes, command and control aircraft, and surveillance drones — giving it unusually sophisticated precision strike capability for the region. Al Jazeera
The US Reaction
The US was not upset by the attack — the ceasefire had not yet settled into place at the time — and has quietly welcomed the UAE's participation and that of any other Gulf states that want to join the fight, according to people familiar with the matter. Pentagon and White House officials declined to comment directly. The Times of Israel
The Broader Context — Today's Developments
This revelation lands on an already extraordinarily tense day. Trump said this morning the ceasefire is on "massive life support" after rejecting Iran's counterproposal, which demanded:
- Compensation for war damage
- An end to sanctions
- Recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz
- A guarantee of no further attacks
Trump called Iran's response "totally unacceptable" and "stupid." Trump is also holding a high-level security meeting today with renewed fighting reportedly on the table, before heading to Beijing later this week to meet Xi Jinping.
The Historical Significance
The Sunni-Shia divide — what you are now watching is the 1,400-year rivalry between the Sunni Arab Gulf states and Shia Iran expressing itself in direct military conflict for the first time in the modern era. The UAE — a Sunni Arab state that had been carefully building economic and diplomatic ties with Iran for decades — has now crossed the threshold into covert warfare.
The question now is whether this remains covert — or whether Iran's response, or today's collapse of ceasefire talks, forces it into the open.