UAE, Arab states restricting US access to bases for strikes on Iran-backed groups

A number of Arab countries, in particular the United Arab Countries (UAE), are reportedly restricting the United States from using their territories for launching strikes on Iran-backed groups in the region, in an attempt to balance compliance with Washington and satisfaction of their domestic populations.

According to a report by Politico, which cited four unnamed sources including an American official, a congressional aide and two Western officials, several Arab countries are “increasingly restricting” the US and Western partners from using their territories to conduct retaliatory operations against Iranian-backed groups and militias in Iraq, Syria and in the Red Sea area.

The Arab states in question reportedly consist particularly of those “attempting a detente with Iran”, according to the US official, with the UAE being the one prominently cited.

Home to the Al Dhafra Air Base – hosting dozens of American aircraft involved in operations across the region, such as fighter jets and reconnaissance MQ-9 Reaper drones – it was from Emirati territory that US forces launched F-16 fighter jets to strike two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) back in October.

At the time, the Pentagon made efforts not to disclose the country from which the strikes were launched and from where the aircraft came, but it was apparently still evident that their origin was Al Dhafra, due to it being one of the closest facilities in the region that typically hosts F-16 jets.

From then on, the Pentagon even stopped publicly disclosing many of the aircraft types used in later retaliatory operations against Iran-backed groups, in a further effort to conceal any complicity by the UAE. Since January, the US strikes on the Houthi in Yemen were also carried out from the nearby aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in international waters, instead of from Emirati territory.

READ: Houthis expose UAE action against Red Sea operations

According to one of the Western officials, the reason the UAE in particular is attempting to restrict US operations from its bases is because “they don’t want to appear like they’re against Iran and they don’t want to appear too close to the West and Israel for public opinion reasons,” referring to Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and its genocide of its Palestinian population.

The UAE is also reportedly concerned about the ongoing risk of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis – who had previously struck Emirati sites and territory in recent years – if Abu Dhabi allows its land to be used for striking the group and other Iran-backed militias in the region.

In response to the report, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told the outlet that the US military maintains “the capability to flow additional assets to the region to support regional deterrence efforts and provide options for a wide range of contingencies.”

He added, “We also maintain the capability throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to defend our forces and conduct self-defence strikes at the times and places of our choosing”, refraining from commenting on the UAE and other Arab states limiting them from using their land or airspace to launch those strikes.

In reference to the strikes on the Houthis from the aircraft carrier in international waters, Ryder insisted that it was merely “yet another demonstration that we maintain global strike capability, which means we can move quickly and flexibly to respond globally at the times and places of our choosing and that we’re not limited to just the aircraft that are in Central Command.”

READ: US plan for deterrence through show of strength in Middle East not affecting Iran: Analyst