Well, isn't this interesting? There are reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been conducting military strikes against an Iranian oil facility. If this can be confirmed, this could represent quite a shake-up in the Middle East.
BIG 🔴
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 11, 2026
The UAE has carried out strikes inside Iran, including an attack on a refinery on Lavan Island, according to the Wall Street Journal.
MORE: According to the Wall Street Journal, the UAE secretly carried out military strikes inside Iran, including the April 8 attack on the oil refinery on Lavan Island.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 11, 2026
• The UAE reportedly used Western-made fighter jets, believed to be Mirage 2000-9s, but has not publicly…
That post reads:
MORE: According to the Wall Street Journal, the UAE secretly carried out military strikes inside Iran, including the April 8 attack on the oil refinery on Lavan Island.
- The UAE reportedly used Western-made fighter jets, believed to be Mirage 2000-9s, but has not publicly acknowledged the operation.
- The strike took place just hours after a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
- Iran responded immediately with missile and drone attacks on targets in the UAE.
The strike on Lavan Island, a key facility with capacity of about 55,000 barrels per day, was initially described by Iranian state media as an “enemy attack.” The Wall Street Journal has now linked the operation to the UAE.
The UAE isn't saying anything - yet.
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The full Wall Street Journal piece has more.
The strikes, which the U.A.E. hasn’t publicly acknowledged, have included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, the people familiar with the matter said. That attack took place in early April around the time President Trump was announcing a cease-fire in the war after a five-week air campaign and sparked a large fire and knocked much of its capacity off line for months.
Iran said at the time that the refinery had been struck in an enemy attack and launched a barrage of missile and drone strikes against the U.A.E. and Kuwait in response.
The U.S. wasn’t upset by the attack, as the cease-fire hadn’t yet settled into place, and it has quietly welcomed the participation of the U.A.E. and any other Gulf states that want to join in the fight, one of the people said.
The U.A.E.’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the strikes but pointed to previous statements in which it asserted its right to respond—including militarily—to hostile acts.
As of this writing, there has been no statement from the War Department or the Trump administration, although it's likely that the Trump administration would welcome any help from the Arab world in finishing the job of kicking Iran's teeth in. And the UAE has reason to be peeved with Iran; since the start of Operation Epic Fury, an operation that the UAE was not part of, Iran launched nearly 3,000 missiles and drones against the smaller country. That's reason enough to hit back in anyone's book. And Iran should have known that the UAE's air forces were enough to place them firmly on the "don't mess with" list.
Militarily, the U.A.E. is dwarfed by the U.S. But it has a highly trained and capable air force with Mirages and a fleet of advanced F-16 jet fighters supported by refueling planes, command and control aircraft and surveillance drones.
Those capabilities give it unusually sophisticated air power for the region, according to retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, who planned the air campaign for Desert Storm.
“They are very strong in terms of precision strike, air defense, airborne surveillance, refueling, and logistics,” Deptula said. “If you have that capable of an air force, why would you sit back and absorb attacks from Iran without responding?”
Once again: None of this has been officially confirmed. The UAE isn't saying anything. Neither is the War Department. Yet. But if this is confirmed, well, that's just another straw on the Iranian camel's back.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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