MEZIESBLOG

Officials in the Trump administration have privately encouraged the United Arab Emirates to take a more direct combat role in the war against Iran, including seizing Tehran’s Lavan Island, a strategic oil hub in the Persian Gulf, according to a report published Saturday by The Telegraph.

The push, attributed to a former senior Trump security official, would shift ground operations onto an allied force and away from American troops, even as it raises the UAE’s exposure to further Iranian retaliation.

Individuals close to Trump have suggested Abu Dhabi take Lavan Island, which separate reports say Emirati forces struck in early April. “Go take ’em!” the former official told the newspaper. “It would be UAE boots on the ground instead of the U.S.”

The encouragement reflects a broader U.S. interest in seeing Gulf partners take direct action against Iran.

Lavan Island, northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, hosts an oil refinery and tanker-loading infrastructure tied to several offshore crude fields, making it a flashpoint for the conflict now in its 11th week.

The UAE has borne the heaviest toll among Gulf states since Israel and the United States began striking Iran in late February, facing what the The Telegraph described as more than 2,800 missiles and drones.

Iran later retaliated against both the UAE and Kuwait following the Lavan strike. However, the UAE has not publicly confirmed any role in a strike against Iran.

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 11 that Emirati forces secretly carried out the April 8 attack on the Lavan refinery in coordination with Israel, an operation that sparked a large fire and was expected to cripple output for months.

The UAE’s president had earlier sought Saudi and Qatari participation in counterstrikes against Iran, but those requests went unanswered, while Saudi Arabia resisted Emirati efforts to organize a coordinated Gulf campaign, according to reports cited by The Telegraph.

Tehran has accused Abu Dhabi of being “an active partner” in the campaign against it.

The UAE rejected what it called attempts to justify Iranian attacks but said it reserved all sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights to confront any threat.

The war has also accelerated the UAE’s alignment with Israel.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed at a Tel Aviv University conference on May 12 that Israel sent Iron Dome batteries and personnel to the UAE to help defend against Iranian attacks, the first public Israeli government acknowledgment of the deployment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he made a secret visit to the UAE in March that produced a “significant breakthrough,” though Abu Dhabi denied any such visit took place.

Burcu Ozcelik, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Telegraph the war had “accelerated a U.S.-Israel-UAE alignment.” She cautioned, however, that deeper military cooperation with Israel could lead other Arab states to view the Emirates as complicit in Israel’s campaign in Gaza.