Global solidarity with UAE shows Iran is aggressor, Emirati presidential advisor says

Cyprus condemned on Tuesday missile and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates, expressing solidarity with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed and the Emirati people.

President Nikos Christodoulides said in a post on X that Cyprus stood with the UAE and regional partners in support of de-escalation, international law, peace and stability.

“The security of the region is inextricably linked with the security of Europe,” he said.

Iran’s parliament speaker said on Tuesday that US actions were endangering shipping and energy transit in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Shipping and energy transit security have been endangered by the United States and its allies through breaching the ceasefire and imposing a blockade,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.

He said a “new equation” was taking shape in the strategic waterway.

“We know well that the continuation of the status quo is unbearable for America, while we have not even started yet,” he said.

The editor-in-chief of Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper said on Tuesday that Iran could strike Europe as it had struck Arab countries if European bases were used by the United States.

Hossein Shariatmadari wrote that military bases in European countries made available to Washington “can and must” become what he called legitimate targets for Iranian attacks.

“European governments know we can strike, and strike well,” Shariatmadari wrote.

He said Europe was highly vulnerable to Iranian attacks and had almost no ability to withstand them.

India said on Tuesday that an attack on Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, which injured three Indian nationals, was unacceptable.

“The attack on Fujairah that resulted in injury to three Indian nationals is unacceptable. We call for immediate cessation of these hostilities and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said India supported dialogue and diplomacy to restore peace and stability across West Asia.

India also called for free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the Strait of Hormuz in line with international law.

Several commercial barges caught fire at Iran’s southern port of Dayyer on Tuesday, the country’s state media reported.

Majid Omrani, head of the Dayyer fire department, said two fiberglass commercial barges were on fire at Vaezi pier and firefighters were working to contain the blaze.

He said the fire had spread to two nearby wooden barges, adding that the cause of the incident would not be known until firefighting operations were completed.