In a phone call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Tuesday, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the recent attacks on the UAE.

“I spoke by telephone with my brother HH Sheikh @MohamedBinZayed, to discuss ways to further strengthen relations between the Kurdistan Region and the UAE, as well as developments in the region,” Prime Minister Barzani posted on X. 

“I reiterated our position of support and the condemnation of the recent attacks targeting the UAE and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the region.”

Also on Monday, in a phone call with UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Prime Minister Barzani condemned the attacks on the UAE.

On Tuesday, the UAE Ministry of Defense announced that its air defenses are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks originating from Iran. 

Also on Monday, the UAE Ministry of Defense stated that the UAE air defense systems had engaged 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones launched from Iran, resulting in three moderate injuries.

Read More: KRG Prime Minister Condemns Attacks on UAE

Following the outbreak of conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran on February 28, both the UAE and the Kurdistan Region were targeted by hundreds of drone and missile attacks. In the Kurdistan Region, 20 people were killed.

“Iran’s hostility toward the UAE is well on display at this point,” Mohammed Salih, a Senior Fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, posted on X.

“But it cannot treat the UAE as it does the Kurdistan Region in Iraq … preemptive approach toward the UAE will not work in the way that Tehran might hope it would in the case of Iraqi Kurdistan.”