Uae Strikes Iran as Air Defences Engage Missile And Drone Attacks

uae strikes iran as the United Arab Emirates said on Friday that its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran. The exchange came as the United States and Iran traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz during a month-long ceasefire that was already under strain.

Strait of Hormuz Exchange

The United States said it struck Iranian targets in retaliation for unprovoked attacks on three US warships transiting the strait on Thursday. Iran accused the United States of violating the truce by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas.

Donald Trump called the US strikes a “love tap” and warned Iran the United States would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it did not quickly agree to a peace deal. Those statements came as the fighting widened beyond the ships in the strait and into Iranian territory.

Tehran And Bandar Abbas

Iranian state media reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran. Iranian state media also reported explosions near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, adding a second flash point to the same day’s exchange.

The events left shipping exposed in the waterway at the center of the dispute. The UN’s International Maritime Organisation said about 1,500 ships and their crews were trapped in the Gulf because of the Iranian blockade in the Hormuz strait.

Oil Market Pressure

Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed US-Iran clashes jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the waterway. An oil tanker that passed through the Strait of Hormuz arrived in South Korea on Friday carrying 1 million barrels of crude oil.

The tanker’s arrival showed that some traffic was still moving even as the fighting intensified around it. The broader risk now sits with the ships still trapped in the Gulf, the crews aboard them, and the governments deciding whether the ceasefire can hold after Thursday’s attacks and Friday’s exchange of fire.