Residents rattled by unfamiliar sounds across the UAE have been offered an explanation by a senior government official: what they’re hearing is largely the country’s own defence systems at work.
Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, speaking to CNN’s Becky Anderson on Sunday, said the UAE has intercepted more than 137 ballistic missiles and over 200 drones, with most physical damage on the ground traced to falling debris rather than direct hits.
“I know it’s a scary time for a lot of the residents,” Al Hashimy said. “We don’t hear these types of loud sounds, but at the same time, those are sounds of interception and where there has been damage, primarily debris.”
The minister described Iran’s actions as without legal or moral justification, and said the scale of the assault extends well beyond UAE borders. “Iran has, through very unjustifiable and very unlawful measures, taken attacks not just to the UAE, but also to the rest of the Gulf and beyond,” she said. “That is something that we do not accept.”
Al Hashimy characterised the current situation as unprecedented but said the UAE had spent weeks pushing for dialogue before the escalation reached this point. She was emphatic that the country does not seek to widen the conflict. “We are calling for calm and measured responses,” she said, noting that international partners have offered both condemnation of the attacks and assurances of coordination.
On the question of whether diplomacy still has a role, the minister did not hesitate — even when asked directly whether the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader had shut that door. “The door for diplomacy never closes,” she said.
She framed the relationship with Iran in geographic terms, noting the two countries are permanent neighbours sharing a tightly connected region, while making clear the UAE holds no interest in how Iran chooses to govern itself. “It is for the Iranian people to decide,” she said. “The UAE doesn’t get involved in how different countries are governed.”
Still, Al Hashimy did not rule out a harder response if conditions demand it. “If it needs to come to that, it will come to that. And really, the ball is in Iran’s court right now about how they want to deal with a neighbourhood and a neighbour that has traditionally been a very fair and good neighbour to them as well.”
The minister also addressed the UAE’s long-standing position ahead of the current hostilities — that its soil would not be used as a launchpad against Iran. “We have before this began been very clear about not having our territories be used to attack Iran,” she said.
Describing the UAE’s defence infrastructure, Al Hashimy said the country operates “one of the best air-to-air missile defence systems in the world” and praised civil defence teams, law enforcement and military forces for their response. “We will really leave no stone unturned to make sure that that continues to be the case for all of our citizens and residents alike,” she said.
