An Iranian security analyst has warned that Tehran is ready to capture the coastlines of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, in an interview aired on Iranian national TV.
Speaking to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, national security analyst Morteza Simiari said that Iran’s military is “ready to take action” if the US “makes any mistake” in the region.
He added that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to seize Emirati and Bahraini coasts and “fundamentally alter the regional landscape”.
“Entering the coasts of the UAE and Bahrain is on the agenda,” Simiari warned.
This comes days after comments by the UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed denouncing Iranian attacks on the country and stating that it will “never be blackmailed by terrorists”, in a post on X.
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Bin Zayed’s comments came in response to former French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud, who questioned remarks by UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash about his country’s deepening cooperation with the US.
Gargash had said in a post on X that “the blatant Iranian aggression against the Arab Gulf states carries deep geopolitical repercussions, making the Iranian threat a central focus of Gulf strategic thinking and emphasising the specificity of Gulf security and its independence from traditional concepts of Arab security”.
He added that as a result, the country was consolidating its “security partnerships with Washington”.
Araud responded that pursuing this policy “means deepening your dependence on a country that has led yours into a disastrous conflict without caring about your interests”.
Iran has responded to US-Israeli attacks launched on 28 February with retaliatory strikes targeting US military bases as well as oil and gas infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states.
The UAE alone has intercepted 338 ballistic missiles and 1,740 drones since the start of the war.
While initially lobbying US President Donald Trump against attacking Iran, MEE reported that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are shifting closer to backing the war, with Riyadh moving to open King Fahd Air Base in Taif, in Western Saudi Arabia, to the Americans.
The UAE has also reportedly told the US that it is geared up for a long war and is exerting no pressure on Washington to end it anytime soon.
In a phone call earlier this month, the Emirati foreign minister told his counterpart, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the UAE is prepared for the war to last up to nine months, a US official told MEE.