strikeMay 17, 2026

US officials pushing UAE to seize Iranian island: Report

Summary

US officials are encouraging the United Arab Emirates to “get more heavily involved in the Iran war and seize one of Tehran’s Gulf islands,” The Telegraph reported Saturday. A former senior US security official told the newspaper that some people within US President Donald Trump’s circle have proposed that the UAE seize Lavan Island, which was reportedly targeted in covert Emirati military strikes in early April. “Go take ’em!” the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper, adding: “It would be UAE boots on the ground instead of US.” READ: Israeli premier made secret trip to UAE to meet President bin Zayed Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. In response. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, including the UAE, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. US President Donald Trump later extended the truce indefinitely. READ: US report says UAE secretly carrying out attacks on Iran

Perspectives

Iranian Official

Iran strongly condemns US-orchestrated foreign aggression urging the UAE to violate Tehran’s sovereignty by seizing Lavan Island through covert strikes and ground occupation, viewing such plots as blatant interference in its territorial integrity. In response to the February US-Israeli attacks and subsequent provocations, Iran exercised its legitimate right to resist by targeting aggressors and their Gulf allies while closing the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the April 8 ceasefire mediated by Pakistan and extended indefinitely, ongoing US incitement exposes the truce as fragile amid continued external threats.

Israeli

US officials' push for UAE forces to seize Lavan Island underscores the urgent need to disrupt Iran's proxy networks and maritime strangulation tactics, which pose an existential threat to Israel through direct strikes, Strait of Hormuz closures, and encirclement via Tehran-backed militias. Such Emirati action would serve as a vital defensive extension of the US-Israel campaign against Iran's regime, reducing the risk of further Iranian retaliation that endangers both Jewish and Gulf state survival. A lasting deterrence is essential, as past ceasefires have only enabled Tehran's continued aggression.

Neutral

According to a report by The Telegraph, US officials have encouraged the United Arab Emirates to increase its involvement by seizing Lavan Island in the Gulf. A former senior US security official was quoted proposing that the UAE take the island, which had reportedly been targeted in covert strikes earlier in April. The account also references US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began February 28, subsequent Iranian actions including attacks on Gulf targets, and a ceasefire later extended indefinitely by President Trump.

Western

US officials have pressed the UAE to expand its role in neutralizing Iranian threats by seizing Lavan Island, enabling precise Emirati operations to secure Gulf access routes and deter further aggression. This would deploy allied forces rather than US troops to counter Tehran’s strikes on regional partners and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the February US-Israel campaign. The push aligns with efforts to enforce the April ceasefire and prevent renewed escalation.

Pro-Peace

US proposals urging the UAE to seize Iranian islands like Lavan risk dragging more civilians into the crossfire of strikes and retaliation that have already claimed lives across the Gulf and disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, worsening humanitarian suffering through displacement, economic fallout, and threats to essential trade. The fragile April ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan after failed talks in Islamabad, highlights how military posturing only deepens the human cost without resolving underlying tensions. Prioritizing renewed diplomacy over escalation remains the only path to sparing further civilian hardship.

Global South

US pressure on the UAE to seize Iran’s Lavan Island reflects classic neo-colonial maneuvering, with Washington seeking to outsource aggression through regional proxies while shielding itself from direct costs. Such external incitement undermines Iranian sovereignty and risks dragging Gulf states into conflicts that serve distant powers rather than local interests. The collapse of Pakistani-mediated talks and the fragile, unilaterally extended ceasefire further expose the failure of existing diplomatic mechanisms to restrain great-power interference.

Actors involved

USIsraelIran

Sources

CurrentsAPI
US officials are encouraging the United Arab Emirates to “get more heavily involved in the Iran war and seize one of Tehran’s Gulf islands,” The Telegraph reported Saturday. A former senior US security official told the newspaper that some people within US President Donald Trump’…

See this event through different lenses

Compare how Western, Iranian, Israeli, Global South, and Pro-Peace perspectives frame this event.

Compare Perspectives

Community Notes

Loading notes...

Related events

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIran

US identifies soldier killed destroying downed Iranian drone in Iraq

○ 1 source

The US Department of Defense announced on Tuesday that Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed on Saturday during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way unmanned aerial system at Erbil airbase in Iraq.

Two other US soldiers, First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were identified a day earlier as having died in Jordan while responding to Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.

The department has reported a total of 17 US service member deaths and hundreds of injuries in the ongoing conflict that began in February.

Location: Iraq

Richard Luscombe

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIranProxy

The Latest: Republicans will soon face voters as the bombing continues

○ 1 source

Reports indicate ongoing U.S. and Iranian military strikes in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, with the Trump administration stating openness to diplomacy while Iran continues to assert control over the shipping corridor. These actions have been linked in some accounts to the collapse of a prior ceasefire, U.

S. troop casualties, and higher gasoline prices. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is set to meet President Trump at the White House amid U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel, following a June 26 framework agreement on Israeli withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah disarmament.

Location: Tehran

The Associated Press

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxy

IEA says Mideast fighting increases energy concerns

○ 1 source

The head of the International Energy Agency stated on July 21 that escalation in Middle East hostilities affecting the Strait of Hormuz and regional energy infrastructure has heightened supply security concerns, while noting that markets retain cushioning factors including higher exports and alternative routing of Saudi and UAE crude.

He also cited threats to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as an additional risk. Reports indicate that Houthi declarations regarding potential Red Sea port blockades and shipping attacks prompted a restrained initial market response amid ongoing mediation references by Iran.

Location: Strait of Hormuz

CurrentsAPI

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIranProxy

Tehran takes aim at Bahrain, Kuwait after US attacks southern Iran

○ 1 source

U.S. forces struck Iranian military sites, including command centers, missile and drone facilities, and air defenses in southern and western Iran on Tuesday, following President Trump's statements on retaliation for American troop deaths. Iranian forces reportedly targeted U.

S. bases in the Gulf, while a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen's Houthis announced a naval blockade affecting Saudi ports. Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent amid the events, with some reports of civilian casualties from the strikes and a later denial by an official in Khorramabad that an attack had occurred there.

Location: Tehran

Reuters