- The president of the United Arab Emirates promises to fulfill his duties to the country.
- Sheikh Mohammed says the UAE was “no easy prey”.
- Will emerge stronger from the war: Sheikh Mohammed.
The president of the United Arab Emirates has said his nation was in a time of war but was doing well, telling its enemies it was no easy prey, in his first public comments since Iran fired missiles at its Gulf neighbor amid US-Israeli attacks.
“The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are not easy prey,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, in comments made on Friday when he visited the injured in strikes, which were broadcast on Abu Dhabi TV on Saturday.
“We will do our duty to our country, our people and our residents who are also part of our family,” he said.
The UAE “is in a period of war”, Sheikh Mohammed said, stressing that “we will come out stronger”.
The United Arab Emirates, which consists of seven emirates including Dubai, would protect everyone in the country, he said.
Separately, an Emirati official said the UAE wanted Iranian aggression against non-combatant Gulf states to stop immediately.
“Any kind of escalation is worrisome. We want to contain the war. We don’t want the war to expand. We want to start with the Iranians realizing that they are not helping themselves by attacking their entire neighborhood and stop there and realize that,” the official said.
Earlier today, the country’s defense ministry said it intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones as Iran continued its attacks on its Gulf neighbor.
“Today, UAE air defense systems detected 16 ballistic missiles, of which 15 were intercepted and destroyed, while one ballistic missile fell into the sea,” the Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.
“Air defense systems also detected 121 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), of which 119 were intercepted, while two fell within UAE territory.”
The ministry stated that a total of 1,305 Iranian UAVs have been detected so far, of which 1,229 were intercepted, while 76 UAVs fell within the UAE’s territory. Eight cruise missiles were also detected and destroyed.
These attacks, it added, resulted in three deaths, including a Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi national, while injuring 112 people of various nationalities.
