Iran emerges as catalyst for closer ties on Turkey-UAE-Israel triangle
Attacks on Emirati and Turkish targets by forces hostile to normalization with Israel are unlikely to be just coincidence as the prospect of new regional partnerships irks Iran.
Amid the crisscrossing moves of rapprochement on the Turkey-United Arab Emirates-Israel triangle, Emirati and Turkish targets have faced a string of attacks, claimed by or believed to be the work of Iran-linked groups.
The Iranian-backed Houthis, fighting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, fired rockets on the UAE three times last month, with the last attack taking place on Jan. 31 as Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Abu Dhabi. Then a Turkish military base in Iraq came under attack on Feb. 3, a day after Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq, a group linked to Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, claimed to have launched four drones targeting critical facilities in the Emirates.
