UAE enlists in US-led naval patrols in Gulf after Saudi Arabia joins

The Emirati Navy will deploy warships to protect shipping routes in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, just a day after Saudi Arabia joined the US-initiated patrols amid rising tensions surrounding Iran.

The UAE is enlisting in the naval coalition called the International Maritime Security Construct, which has the stated goal of supporting “regional and international efforts to deter threats to maritime navigation and global trade,” according to WAM news agency quoting senior Foreign Ministry official Salem Mohammed Al Zaabi. 

The formal statement was light on details, only adding that Emirati warships will help “secure the flow of energy supplies to the global economy.” The maritime alliance’s area of responsibility covers the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandab, the Sea of Oman, and the Persian Gulf.

So far, it includes the US, Australia, Bahrain, the UK, and Saudi Arabia. The latter joined in on Wednesday, shortly after a massive drone attack hit the kingdom’s major oil facility in Abqaiq. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, claimed credit for the strikes, but the Saudis and the US promptly pointed the finger at Tehran – a claim which it vehemently denied.

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