Whether by carrot or stick — and there’s still no definitive reporting on which — the animosity between Iran and the UAE has been easing. The Emirates bore the vast majority of Tehran’s attacks in the first weeks of the war, but since April 29 that has shrunk to 17% of Iranian strikes. The shift has coincided with an effort to cool tensions, with the UAE seeking to move “from hostility to détente with Tehran,” the Financial Times reported.
Direct flights and commercial shipping between the UAE and Iran have resumed. But this is not a new alliance in the making. The UAE is reopening economic and diplomatic channels with Iran while also deepening defense ties with Israel and the US. The strategy, which also includes building new supply chains and fortifying infrastructure, has an overarching objective: “resilience,” a term the FT noted is the “buzzword” in the Emirates these days.