US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz confirmed Monday that Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system was used to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first government official to publicly verify that the equipment was deployed and used in the UAE during the recent fighting.
Waltz made the comments in remarks at an Independence Day event hosted by the Israeli Mission to the UN in New York.
“We saw the UAE make use of the Iron Dome provided to it by Israel,” the Israel Hayom daily quoted Waltz as having said.
The remarks were confirmed to The Times of Israel by a source present at the event.
On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also confirmed the delivery.
“Israel just sent (the UAE) Iron dome batteries and personnel to help them operate them. How come? Because there’s an extraordinary relationship between the UAE and Israel based on the Abraham Accords,” Huckabee said at an event in Tel Aviv, referring to a 2020 deal that saw Israel establish ties with the UAE.
Israel’s provision of an Iron Dome battery and soldiers to operate it was first reported last month by the Axios news site and later confirmed to The Times of Israel by two Arab diplomats familiar with the matter.
It marked the first time the system has been sent to another country outside of Israel and the US, Axios reported, citing Israeli and American officials.
Illustrative: An Iron Dome anti-missile system near the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, April 7, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Since the war began on February 28, Israeli and Emirati officials said, the two countries have been in close military and political coordination, with the Israeli Air Force also carrying out strikes in southern Iran during the war to neutralize short-range missiles threatening Gulf states.
Israel reportedly deployed an Iron Dome battery to the UAE early in the war with Iran and sent several dozen troops to operate it.
During the fighting, Tehran launched sustained attacks on the UAE, firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry, making it the most targeted country in the region, including Israel.
While most projectiles fired at the UAE were intercepted, some struck military and civilian targets, reportedly prompting Abu Dhabi to seek assistance from allies. The UAE also carried out military strikes on Iran, making it the only other country to join the United States and Israel in their war against the Islamic Republic, according to a Monday report.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Iron Dome deployment following a call with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Israeli officials told Axios. The system was said to have intercepted dozens of Iranian missiles. Last week, an unnamed source told CNN that the battery shot down another Iranian missile fired at the UAE at the time.
A shaky ceasefire between Iran and the US has been in place since April 8 as the two sides hold mediated negotiations to end the war.
Israel and the UAE normalized relations with the 2020 Abraham Accords, a deal motivated in part by the shared threat of Iran.
Waltz told the Independence Day gathering that work on the accords is ongoing, and that Israel’s ties with its neighbors are deepening, Israel Hayom reported.
Reuters contributed to this report.
