A ceasefire meant to end the Iran war has instead produced a rolling cycle of strikes and counterstrikes across the Gulf, with the UAE now repeatedly condemning attacks it says violate the sovereignty of neighboring states that host no fight of their own.
FORENSIC TIMES INVESTIGATIVE DESK | ABU DHABI, UAE | FILED UNDER: CONFLICT & REGIONAL SECURITY
Table of Contents
- The UAE Statement
- A Pattern of Repeated Condemnations
- What Iran Says It Targeted
- The Ceasefire That Keeps Collapsing
- Casualties and Damage on the Ground
- Qatar and Oman: Mediators Under Fire
- The Wider Battlefield: Kuwait as a Focal Point
- Regional Diplomatic Response
- Law and Legal Implications
- Is the UAE Next, and Can Mediation Survive
The UAE Statement
The United Arab Emirates condemned in the strongest terms renewed Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried by the state news agency WAM. The ministry said the attacks constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of what it called brotherly nations and represent a threat to their security and stability, reiterating the UAE’s full solidarity with all three countries and its support for measures aimed at safeguarding them.
A Pattern of Repeated Condemnations
The statement is one of a series of near-identical condemnations the UAE has issued in recent weeks as Iranian strikes have repeatedly hit Gulf states, with earlier statements naming different combinations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan depending on which countries were struck in each wave. The recurrence of these statements, several within the same month, reflects how frequently the region has come under fire since a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran began breaking down.
What Iran Says It Targeted
Iran’s military has publicly acknowledged multiple rounds of strikes, describing them as retaliation for continued American military action against Iranian territory. Iranian state media reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a Patriot missile interceptor system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar, and fuel tanks in Bahrain in one wave, while separately claiming to have destroyed a command and control center and drone hangars in Jordan, struck a US radar site in Kuwait, and hit US aircraft carrier support and refueling infrastructure in other rounds. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency identified the Shakir Airbase in Bahrain, home to US helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft, as a specific target in one attack.
The Ceasefire That Keeps Collapsing
The current wave of strikes traces back to a broader conflict that began on February 28, 2026, when Iran launched what it called Operation True Promise IV in response to US and Israeli operations known as Operation Roaring Lion and Operation Epic Fury, targeting regional states hosting American military assets including Bahrain’s US Navy Fifth Fleet, the UAE’s Al Dhafra Airbase, and Qatar’s Al Udeid Airbase. A ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran earlier in the summer has proven fragile, with fighting repeatedly resuming after fresh American strikes on Iranian territory, each round drawing renewed Iranian retaliation against US assets hosted across the Gulf.
Casualties and Damage on the Ground
The toll from the fighting has extended well beyond property damage. Kuwaiti officials reported seven soldiers killed and dozens wounded in strikes on American and Kuwaiti targets, including an attack near the civilian port of Shuaiba, alongside two Kuwaiti Navy servicemen killed in the line of duty. A friendly fire incident during the same period saw a Kuwait Air Force jet shoot down three American F-15E aircraft, with the American crews surviving. Kuwait’s electricity ministry reported drone debris knocked out six power lines, and a later strike ignited a fire at a power and water plant. In Qatar, the Interior Ministry reported three people injured, including one child, by falling shrapnel. Kuwait International Airport has faced repeated strikes on its terminals and air traffic control infrastructure, leading to a total suspension of commercial aviation in Kuwaiti airspace.
Qatar and Oman: Mediators Under Fire
Among the most striking aspects of the renewed strikes is that they have hit Qatar and Oman, the two states that have served as primary mediators attempting to broker a lasting ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks as a dangerous escalation and has previously said it would not act as mediator while under attack itself. Oman, which had hosted Iran’s foreign minister for security talks on the Strait of Hormuz only hours before being struck, issued its own condemnation through the Oman News Agency.
The Wider Battlefield: Kuwait as a Focal Point
Kuwait has emerged as one of the most frequently struck states in the conflict, hosting roughly 13,000 American servicemembers alongside Italian and Canadian forces. Documented Iranian strikes on Kuwaiti and allied positions have downed 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones through the country’s air defenses, while ground strikes destroyed a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter and damaged two Eurofighter Typhoon jets. The Italian garrison at Ali Al Salem Air Base was struck by Iranian drones and missiles during the same period.
Regional Diplomatic Response
Beyond the UAE, multiple Gulf and regional governments have issued condemnations following each wave of attacks. Qatar described the strikes as a dangerous escalation, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy condemned what it called heinous Iranian aggression after the power plant fire, and Bahrain’s military said its air defences had thwarted what it termed treacherous Iranian attacks. The near-uniform language of condemnation across Gulf capitals, and the UAE’s repeated statements of solidarity even when its own territory was not struck in a given round, signals an effort by Gulf states to present a unified diplomatic front against the spillover of a war they did not start.
Law and Legal Implications
Strikes against Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Qatar, none of which are formal parties to the US-Iran conflict, raise questions under international law governing the use of force against non-belligerent states, particularly where strikes hit civilian infrastructure such as airports, power plants, and residential buildings rather than exclusively military targets. Iran’s justification, framed as retaliation against US military assets hosted on Gulf territory, does not by itself resolve the legal status of strikes that cause civilian casualties or damage civilian infrastructure in host countries, a distinction that could shape any future claims brought by affected states.
The repeated collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire also raises questions about the durability of any future truce absent a mechanism binding third-party host states, since the current arrangement has not prevented Gulf nations from being repeatedly drawn into rounds of retaliation despite having no direct role in the underlying dispute.
Is the UAE Next, and Can Mediation Survive
It remains unclear whether the UAE’s own territory, including the Al Dhafra Airbase struck earlier in the conflict, faces continued risk in subsequent rounds of retaliation, or whether Iran has deliberately excluded the UAE from its most recent target sets. The precise chain of escalation between individual US strikes and Iranian retaliatory waves has not been independently verified beyond the accounts each side has released. Whether Qatari and Omani mediation efforts can resume meaningfully while both states continue to be struck is an open question with direct bearing on any durable resolution. Forensic Times continues to monitor the conflict and subsequent Gulf state statements as the situation develops.
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