United Arab Emirates says it has intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates’ air force intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters Monday, the Defense Ministry said, an attack that comes after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire on the weekend, the first significant military action in a month.

In a short statement, the Defense Ministry said it “dealt with” an Iranian drone that was detected over its waters approaching from Iran.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility from Tehran nor any reports of damage. The UAE Defense Ministry later issued a second statement denying the Al Menhad Air Base in Dubai had been targeted by Iranian missiles, as had been reported by Iranian media outlets.

The incident came after U.S. forces on Sunday struck Iranian rocket launchers on an Iranian island, breaking a lull in fighting in the war that has lasted more than six months.

Iran responded by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted.

Early Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said that Iran would “not hesitate to exercise the inherent right of legitimate defense and will respond decisively to any military aggression.”

Before heading to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in Kyrgyzstan with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has favored a negotiated end to the conflict, stressed that Iran was not seeking war.

“But,” he said, “we will respond decisively to aggressors.”

The summit brings together a group billed as a counterweight to U.S. global influence, and includes Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pezeshkian was scheduled to meet with Putin on the sidelines on Tuesday.

Meantime, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to host meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, which come as Washington pressures other countries to help the U.S. economically isolate Iran to try and exact concessions out of its leaders to end the war.

The U.S. had been focusing on economic pressure in recent weeks but on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said it had struck Iranian launchers after observing forces with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said last week it had completed clearing sea mines from the waterway’s international shipping routes.

Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak island on the strait and the Revolutionary Guard said there had been casualties.

U.S. military officials disputed Iran’s claim that the latest American strikes were an act of aggression, calling them a “limited, precise action” against what they said were minelaying forces.

Iranian state television later showed what it said were ballistic missiles being fired at American bases in Jordan, and Jordan’s military said had intercepted eight that had entered its airspace.

A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began on Feb. 28.

The last time the U.S. military confirmed targeting Iran was on July 29, when it announced a “heavy wave of strikes” on dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets including coastal surveillance and defense sites.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Aug. 1 he would order the military to hold off on new strikes at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.