Women look at the Dubai skyline, with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, seen from Creek Harbor on April 3, 2026.
Fadel Séné | AFP | Getty Images
An already tenuous ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared poised to collapse Monday, as the United Arab Emirates said it was being attacked by Iranian drones and missiles and the United States reportedly said it had sunk Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trumpin a Fox News in an interview later Monday, warned Iran that it would be “wiped off the face of the earth” if it targeted U.S. ships that protect commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads U.S. Central Command, said in a call with reporters Monday afternoon that U.S. forces had eliminated six small Iranian boats that were trying to interfere with commercial shipping, Reuters reported.
Tehran’s state media denied its boats were sunk.
Stock indices fellAnd oil prices have increased on news of the UAE attacks, raising investors’ fears that the war’s impact on the global economy could be exacerbated or prolonged.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked whether the reported attacks, which led the United Arab Emirates to activate its missile warning system for the first time since the ceasefire began on April 8, would violate that truce.
The UAE Defense Ministry, in a translated message on its official X account, said Monday morning that its air defenses “are currently facing missile attacks and the arrival of drones from Iran.”
The ministry said that “the noises heard in various parts of the country are the result of the UAE’s air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.”
In a previous statement, the ministry indicated that three “errant munitions” had been “intercepted above the country’s territorial waters”, while a fourth missile “had fallen into the sea”.
The United Arab Emirates is located on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, a major chokepoint for oil transportation.
A social media account associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to confirm later Monday that it had launched the attacks on the United Arab Emirates.
In translated messages on Telegram, the account posted visuals of what it says are drone and missile attacks carried out by the “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Corps.” One post purported to show the aftermath of a drone attack on the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, while another included a video showing a ship on fire following a missile strike.
A telephone alert issued Monday evening in Dubai and Abu Dhabi local time warned the population: “Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, immediately seek a safe place in the nearest secure building.”
Emergency alert in the United Arab Emirates
Emma Graham | CNBC
