UAE intercepts Iranian drone as Strait of Hormuz tensions flare again

Dubai,UPDATED: Aug 31, 2026 19:46 IST

The United Arab Emirates said on Monday that it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters, marking a fresh escalation after the United States and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month. The development comes as tensions rise again around the Strait of Hormuz, with renewed military action, economic pressure and calls for a political solution.

Iranian officials said two people were killed and several others were wounded in a US attack on Sunday night on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran later responded by launching missiles at US sites in Jordan, though they were intercepted. The latest flare-up also comes against the backdrop of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, rising oil prices and growing concern across the region.

In a short statement, the UAE Defence Ministry said it had "dealt with" an Iranian drone that was detected over its waters and was approaching from Iran. There were no reports of damage. The UAE Foreign Ministry said, "This dangerous escalation constitutes a blatant violation of the UAE's sovereignty, security, and stability, and a direct threat to the safety of its citizens and residents." The Defence Ministry later issued another statement rejecting an Iranian army claim that Dubai's Al Minhad Air Base had been targeted, calling it false.

After the renewed violence, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said on social media that "the state of neither war nor peace cannot be a sustainable solution." He called for a political solution that would restore normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, but also for a "more realistic approach" than the June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US which, he said, "failed to outline a practical and acceptable" road map.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it would "not hesitate to exercise the inherent right of legitimate defence and will respond decisively to any military aggression." Before leaving for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has favoured a negotiated end to the conflict, said Iran was not seeking war. "But," he said, "we will respond decisively to aggressors." The summit includes Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Pezeshkian is scheduled to meet Putin on the sidelines on Tuesday.

The latest exchanges follow weeks of mounting US economic pressure on Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to host meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday as Washington pushes other countries to help isolate Tehran economically. The strategy centres on threats of punishment against any country or entity that continues to do business with Iran. Two weeks ago, the UAE suspended all trade with Iran after saying it had come under renewed Iranian fire, with two missiles splashing harmlessly near shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf. Iran denied that attack, while Bessent later suggested the UAE decision was the result of pressure from Washington.

US President Donald Trump said last week that he is "not in a hurry" to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, while continuing to argue that the Islamic Republic's leadership is under pressure. At the same time, recent appointments to Iran's senior security leadership have signalled Tehran's defiance after decades of sanctions and a lack of tolerance for dissent at home.

The broader conflict has already reshaped the region. After the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, Iran imposed a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passed in peacetime, slowing ship traffic to a trickle. That has shaken the global economy and pushed up prices for energy and other goods. As fighting resumed, Brent crude rose above USD 90, about 25 per cent higher than at the start of the war, adding to the political pressure on Trump before the midterm elections. A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted US military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began.

On Sunday, US Central Command said it struck Iranian launchers after observing Revolutionary Guard forces preparing to fire rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said last week that it had finished clearing sea mines from the waterway's international shipping routes. American officials rejected Iran's description of the strikes as aggression and called them a "limited, precise action" against what they said were minelaying forces. Iranian state television later broadcast footage it said showed ballistic missiles being fired at American bases in Jordan, while Jordan's military said it intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace. The last time the US military confirmed targeting Iran was on July 29, when it announced a "heavy wave of strikes" on dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets, including coastal surveillance and defence sites. Taken together, Monday's drone interception, the weekend strikes and the economic and diplomatic moves under way show the conflict widening again, even as regional leaders call for a political path to restore stability and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends