Uae Attacks Iran as Air Defences Engage Missile and Drone Fire
The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran, as uae attacks iran became the day’s most immediate military development. The exchange came as the United States and Iran traded fire on the Strait of Hormuz during their month-long ceasefire, raising the stakes around a waterway described as critical for global trade.
Strait of Hormuz fire
Iran accused the United States of violating the truce by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas. The United States said it struck Iranian targets in retaliation for unprovoked attacks on three US warships transiting the strait on Thursday. Donald Trump described the US strikes as a “love tap” and said the United States would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if Iran did not quickly agree to a peace deal.
Trump also said negotiations with Tehran were continuing. That leaves a narrow diplomatic track running alongside a live military exchange, with neither side stepping back from the core version of events it put forward on Thursday.
Iran and the Gulf
Iranian state media reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran on Friday, while explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. In the Gulf, the pressure is already visible: the United Nations’ International Maritime Organisation said about 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped there because of the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said on Thursday that Iran had established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the waterway. The move gives Tehran a formal mechanism over traffic in a corridor already under strain, and it came before the latest exchange with the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Oil route under strain
Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed 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, the first such vessel to reach South Korea by that route since Iran declared the critical waterway closed, carrying 1m barrels of crude oil.
For shippers, insurers and energy buyers, the immediate issue is whether the route can stay open long enough for cargoes already in transit to keep moving. The next test sits with the weapons already in motion over the Gulf and with Trump’s talks with Tehran, which still have to produce a deal before the fire crossing the strait becomes the new normal.
