France has deployed Dassault Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its military installations from Iranian attacks, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday, March 3.
France maintains hundreds of navy, air force and army personnel in the UAE, with Rafale aircraft stationed at Al-Dhafra air base near Abu Dhabi. “These Rafales and their pilots are mobilised to ensure the security of our facilities,” Barrot told BFMTV when asked about French action over the weekend to neutralise Iranian drones. “They have carried out operations to secure the airspace above our bases.”
Barrot confirmed that on Sunday “a hangar at a French base in the United Arab Emirates was hit by a drone. Exchanges are multiplying to determine both how the country can defend itself against future attacks and how France can protect its interests there,” he added.
He also clarified that France’s flagship aircraft carrier, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, was operating in the North Atlantic as part of a previously scheduled multinational exercise and had not been redirected to the Mediterranean. “To the best of my knowledge, it has not changed course,” Barrot said.
The deployment comes after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, March 1, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has since targeted US allies and military assets across the Gulf.
Authorities in the UAE reported that debris from a drone interception caused a fire at an oil industry zone in Fujairah on Tuesday, which was later contained. In Abu Dhabi, a drone struck a fuel tank terminal on Monday, igniting a fire though operations were not affected.
Technology company Amazon said late Monday that two of its data centres in the UAE were “directly struck” by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East. As military exchanges intensify across the region, European powers are increasing protective measures for their personnel and assets stationed in the Gulf.