Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for an attack on the United Arab Emirates in which at least three people were killed.
Abu Dhabi said drones may have been used in two separate explosions in the capital. If confirmed by the Emiratis, this would be the Houthis’ first attack on the Gulf state, which is the region’s commercial hub and is roughly 800km from eastern Yemen.
The UAE’s official news agency said a blaze in the industrial district led to the explosion of three petroleum tankers near a depot of the national oil company while a fire broke out in a construction area at the city’s international airport. The tanker explosion killed a Pakistani and two Indian nationals and injured six others, the agency said.
“The cause of the fires are small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas,” the agency reported, saying there had been “no significant damage”.
Brigadier Yahya Sarie, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said the group would soon release a statement on a military operation within the UAE.
The Gulf state’s authorities pride themselves on the effectiveness of the regional trade hub’s security. The Houthis have previously claimed responsibility for strikes on Abu Dhabi’s nuclear power plant and international airport, but the Emirati authorities denied these reports.
Houthi forces have for years targeted civilian and military infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, which borders the militia’s stronghold in northern Yemen. Riyadh led an Arab coalition in 2015 to intervene in the civil war after the militia ousted the internationally recognised government.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition said on Monday it had intercepted three drones launched towards the south of the kingdom.
The Houthis have in recent weeks been threatening action against the UAE, claiming that the Gulf state’s “mercenaries” had joined the battle for Marib, a Yemeni province where the Houthis launched a major offensive last year to cement their control over the country’s populous north.
The Houthi advance on the main city has been checked by the intervention of UAE-aligned forces and co-ordinated Saudi air strikes in recent weeks.
“I read it [ Monday’s attack] as a warning from Ansar Allah/the Houthis to the UAE — basically saying stop supporting these offensives on us or we can hit you even harder. Effectively them saying they hold the Emiratis responsible for their recent losses in Shabwa [ near Marib] and will take action,” said Adam Baron, an analyst focused on Yemen.
The UAE withdrew most of its armed forces from Yemen in 2019, four years after joining the Saudi-led coalition.
The offensive in Marib has undermined UN and US efforts to co-ordinate a ceasefire and start a peace process seeking to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced several million others.
The suspected attack comes as Iran, which is accused of supplying the Houthis with missiles and drones, is under western pressure to agree to revive the nuclear deal it signed with world powers. After weeks of indirect talks between the Islamic republic and the Biden administration in Vienna, European and US officials are warning that time is running out to save the deal.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply after former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and imposed crippling sanctions on Iran. The Biden administration has said it will return to the deal if Iran reduces its nuclear activity and falls back into compliance with the agreement.
The UAE, an important US partner in the Gulf that initially supported Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, has over the past two years sought to de-escalate tensions with Tehran and strengthen economic ties with the republic.