Iran on March 28 announced that it had destroyed a storage facility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Dubai, where more than 20 Ukrainian experts were present, in a large-scale retaliatory operation targeting US-related targets.
According to Mr. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), this force has launched a coordinated operation between the Aerospace Force and the Navy to destroy a stockpile of anti-UAV equipment in Dubai.
Mr. Zolfaghari said that this target was used to support the US military, and confirmed that 21 Ukrainian citizens were present here at the time of the attack. However, the Iranian side did not disclose details about the casualties of this expert group.
Also according to a statement from Iranian state media, the attack on the weapons depot coincided with shelling targets at the shelters of US commanders and soldiers in Dubai, causing "heavy losses". This information has not yet been confirmed by independent parties.
The above developments occurred in the context of the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel escalating rapidly. Previously, on February 28, the US and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran, attacking many targets in major cities, including Tehran.
The White House then justified this campaign by accusing Iran of developing missile and nuclear threats.
In response, the IRGC launched a counter-offensive campaign, targeting many targets in Israel, while expanding the scope of attacks to US military bases in many Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Notably, Iran also confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a number of senior officials were killed in joint airstrikes by the US and Israel.
There has been no official response from the US, Ukraine or UAE regarding Iran's claims related to the attack in Dubai. This is a rare time a facility related to Ukraine has been directly targeted outside the Eastern European conflict zone, raising concerns about the risk of war spreading beyond traditional borders.
Observers believe that Iran's expansion of the target list to facilities believed to support the US in third countries shows that the counter-strategy is shifting to a more dangerous phase, with a geographical scope that is increasingly expanded and difficult to control.
