U.S. Confirms Israel Deployed Iron Dome To UAE Amid Iran War

Israel sent the United Arab Emirates an Iron Dome air defense system with troops to operate it early in the war with Iran, two Israeli officials and one U.S. official told Axios.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Monday became the first government official to publicly confirm the deployment.

Speaking at an Israeli Independence Day event hosted by the Israeli Mission to the UN in New York, Waltz said: “We saw the UAE make use of the Iron Dome provided to it by Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the deployment of the Iron Dome battery, including interceptors and several dozen operators, following a phone call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed. It marks the first time the system has been deployed outside Israel or the United States.

Since the beginning of the war, the UAE has been targeted by Iran more than any other country in the region. According to the Emirati Ministry of Defense, Iran fired around 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones at the UAE. Most were intercepted, but some struck military and civilian targets.

According to reports from the Financial Times and Axios, Israel also sent an advanced surveillance system capable of detecting Iranian drones and missiles, as well as a version of its Iron Beam laser-based air defense system, marking a rare operational deployment of one of Israel’s newest defense technologies outside its own borders.

Israel and the UAE signed a peace treaty in 2020 under the Abraham Accords. Both Israeli and Emirati officials say the partnership is currently the closest it has ever been.