https://www.politico.com/news/2024/0...-iran-00141460
UAE restricts US ability to launch retaliatory airstrikes against Iran proxies
Other Arab countries are restricting operations as well, according to people familiar with the matter.
Some Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, are increasingly restricting the U.S. from using military facilities on their soil to launch retaliatory airstrikes on Iranian proxies, according to four people familiar with the issue.….
The news that some countries are restricting access is based on information from a U.S. official, a congressional aide and two Western officials, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive security issue.
Amid a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, several Arab countries, particularly those “attempting a detente with Iran,” are “increasingly restricting” the U.S. and partners from conducting self-defense operations from their soil, according to the U.S. official. This includes limits on retaliatory strikes against attacks in Iraq, Syria, and the Red Sea, the official said.….
Certain Arab countries are restricting access to basing and overflight for the assets participating in these retaliatory strikes, the official said. It’s not clear how many countries are taking this action.
The reason the UAE in particular is doing this, per one of the Western officials, is “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.”
The UAE has in recent years also raised concerns about increasing attacks from the Houthis in Yemen. The rebel group has previously
launched missiles into the UAE.
The UAE is home to Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts dozens of U.S. aircraft involved in operations across the region, including fighter aircraft and reconnaissance drones such as MQ-9 Reapers.
In October, U.S. F-16 fighter jets
carried out retaliatory strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies. Although the Pentagon at the time did not disclose where the aircraft came from, Al Dhafra is one of the closest facilities in the region that typically hosts F-16s.
One Defense Department official disputed the premise that there is tension between the U.S. and the Emirates over U.S. military basing, pointing out that A-10 attack aircraft and armed MQ-9 drones have recently operated out of Al Dhafra in support of operations to protect shipping in the Arabian Gulf.
But soon after the October strike, the Pentagon stopped publicly disclosing many of the aircraft types used in subsequent retaliatory operations against Iranian proxies.
Meanwhile, strikes on the Houthis since January have been conducted by U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jets from the nearby aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is in international waters.
And after an Iran-backed proxy attack killed three American soldiers at a small U.S. outpost in Jordan in January, the U.S. flew
long-range B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, the Pentagon said…..