In a landmark development that underscores deepening security ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Israel deployed its Iron Dome air defence system – complete with operating troops – to the Gulf nation during the ongoing conflict with Iran, multiple senior officials confirmed to Axios in a report published Sunday.
The deployment, the first time Israel has ever sent an operational Iron Dome battery to another country, was ordered shortly after the conflict began by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a direct phone call between Netanyahu and Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed, the US-based news outlet reported. The shipment included a full working battery, interceptor missiles, and several dozen specially trained Israeli soldiers to operate the system.
One senior Israeli official noted that this deployment makes the UAE only the third country in the world – after the United States and Israel itself – to host and use the Iron Dome air defence system in active conflict. During the 40-day war, which began on February 28 when a joint US-Israeli aerial offensive targeted Iranian leadership, hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones were launched at US military installations located within UAE territory and other Emirati targets. Israeli officials confirm the Iron Dome system successfully intercepted dozens of these incoming Iranian projectiles.
This historic security deployment is just one piece of a far broader pattern of intensive bilateral cooperation between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi that has emerged since the start of the conflict, officials from both nations told Axios. The two countries have coordinated closely across both military and political spheres since hostilities began, when the joint US-Israeli strike killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei alongside multiple other senior Iranian government and military officials.
Beyond the Iron Dome deployment, the Israeli Air Force conducted pre-emptive strikes against short-range Iranian missile positions in southern Iran, destroying the projectiles before they could be launched toward the UAE and other neighbouring Gulf states.
Escalation of the conflict followed a joint US-Israeli bombing raid on Iran’s strategic South Pars gas field, a critical cornerstone of Iran’s national energy infrastructure, on March 18. In response, Tehran launched a widespread counteroffensive targeting energy infrastructure across the entire Gulf region, expanding attacks to hit hotels, airports, data centres, commercial ports, and US diplomatic missions across the Middle East.
The UAE emerged as one of Iran’s most heavily targeted adversaries in the conflict. Emirati authorities confirm Iran launched approximately 550 ballistic and cruise missiles, plus more than 2,200 attack drones, at targets across the country. While the vast majority of incoming projectiles were intercepted by allied air defence systems, falling debris still caused substantial damage across key urban and economic centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, including at iconic landmarks such as Burj Al Arab and Palm Jumeirah, Dubai International Airport, and the Fujairah oil industrial zone.
The sustained conflict has also taken a major economic toll on the UAE: Dubai’s global reputation as a leading luxury tourism destination has suffered significant damage, and the country’s oil exports have slowed to a fraction of pre-war levels.
On April 8, the United States and Iran agreed to implement a temporary ceasefire that halted large-scale active hostilities and opened the door for bilateral negotiations. As of the latest reporting, these talks have not yet produced any major breakthrough toward a lasting peace agreement.