The Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper is pictured as a plume of smoke rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport, the United Arab Emirates, on March 16, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
The United Arab Emirates on Monday said it came under attack by Iran for the first time since a ceasefire between Tehran and the United States took place last month, saying that its defense authorities engaged with more than a dozen missiles and drones.
The UAE's Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it engaged with 12 Iranian ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones.
Earlier in the day, authorities in the eastern area of Fujairah said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, and the British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE coast.
The fresh attacks by Iran appeared to be in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcements that he would attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, leading to the wider ocean.
The U.S. government on Monday also reported that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the critical waterway as part of a new safeguarding initiative. Shortly after the attacks, the U.S. military said it battled Iranian forces and sank six small boats.
In what appears to be a response to the UAE, Iranian state-run media outlet PressTV, quoting an unnamed official with the Revolutionary Guard, on Monday said the fire in Fujairah resulted from the U.S. military's attempt to "create a corridor for the illegal passage of ships through the prohibited waterways of the Strait of Hormuz."
It was responding to an announcement on Sunday from Trump that the U.S. military would escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz in what he termed "Project Freedom," starting on Monday morning.
Aside from the UAE, authorities in Oman said a residential building was targeted on Monday, although no details of the incident were provided. The country's state-run media said on X that the building housed workers of a company in the town of Bukha, injuring two people and damaging four vehicles.
Trump said Monday that Iran has "taken some shots" in the Strait of Hormuz at other countries, as well as a South Korean cargo ship.
"Perhaps it's time for South Korea to come and join the mission! We've shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, 'fast' Boats. It's all they have left. Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait," the U.S. president wrote on Truth Social.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency rejected the assertion that any of its so-called "fast boats" were destroyed by the U.S. military on Monday.
In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/AFP via Getty Images
Trump added that U.S. Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine would hold a news conference on the conflict on Tuesday morning.
On Saturday, the president said he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war but expressed skepticism that it would lead to a deal. Trump rejected a previous Iranian proposal in April.
After Trump announced a ceasefire last month, the U.S. military implemented a naval blockade of Iranian ports in a bid to place economic pressure on the regime.
