Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

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Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev confirmed on Sunday that Israel sent an Iron Dome battery to the United Arab Emirates at the start of the war with Iran, AzerNEWS reports.

"They understood that the ballistic missiles were one of the biggest challenges," Regev told Army Radio. She is the first Israeli official to publicly confirm the deployment.

Earlier this year, United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Israel had sent Iron Dome batteries and personnel to the UAE to strengthen the country's air defenses during the conflict with Iran.

Military, security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and the UAE has been on the rise since the countries signed the Abraham Accords in September 2020, but reached new heights during the recent Iran war.

Iran fired several hundred more ballistic and cruise missiles at the UAE during the war than it did at Israel, and also launched thousands of drones at it.

Although the vast majority of missiles and drones were shot down, some penetrated the defense shield and struck a mix of military and civilian targets in the country.

Both the US and Israel, though mostly the US, conducted strikes against Iranian ballistic missile teams in southern Iran to also reduce the volume of missiles being fired at the UAE.