The wider Middle East battles that have long encircled the United Arab Emirates have now encroached on daily life in this US-allied country, threatening to draw America deeper into a region roiled by tensions with Iran.
Since January, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have started missile and drone assaults against the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms that includes oil-rich Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s skyscrapers and beaches. American forces at Abu Dhabi’s Al-Dhafra Air Base, which houses 2,000 US troops, have fired Patriot missiles twice to assist intercept air attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The two occurrences mark the first time the Patriot has been used in battle since 2003, a period of nearly two decades. It also comes after the administration of Vice President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and declaration of the end of the American military operation in Iraq.
Despite being overshadowed by the Ukraine situation, the United States has announced that it will send more modern fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, as well as the USS Cole on a mission there. This spilling of Yemen’s years-long war into the UAE puts American forces in the crosshairs of Houthi attacks, raising the possibility of regional escalation at a key time in Vienna talks to potentially revive Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
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