UAE blames glitch for false missile warning

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UAE blames glitch for false missile warning

June 27, 2026

DUBAI,— The United Arab Emirates said Friday that a technical problem in its early warning network resulted in inaccurate alerts being sent to residents regarding a potential missile threat.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said the malfunction occurred Friday evening and had since been resolved.

The authority said specialized teams had started corrective measures aimed at maintaining service operations and reducing any effects caused by the incident.

The warning brought back memories of alerts issued during the peak of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

At that time, Iranian attacks on targets across the UAE and the Gulf region, where U.S. military bases are located, led UAE authorities to distribute public safety notifications.

Separately, the U.S. military launched strikes on Iran on Friday after what Washington described as an Iranian drone attack on a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

The action came as both countries accused each other of breaching the terms of a ceasefire reached the previous week.

U.S. Central Command said American aircraft targeted missile and drone storage facilities as well as coastal radar installations.

The command later released grainy black-and-white footage showing an explosion and labeled the video “unclassified.” A U.S. official said the military operation had been completed.

Iran said a projectile hit an area near a pier in Sirik, in southern Iran. Iranian authorities said naval forces then carried out strikes against U.S. military targets in the region.

Tehran did not specify which locations or assets may have been affected.

At the same time, developments elsewhere suggested movement toward ending the conflict that has lasted four months.

Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement intended to halt hostilities involving Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The two sides described the arrangement as an initial measure that calls for Hezbollah to give up its weapons and for Israel to remove troops from Lebanon.

However, details regarding implementation remained unclear.

Hezbollah said it would not cooperate with the agreement.

On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted U.S. military positions in the region in response to what they described as a new U.S. strike on Iran.

The Guards did not identify the locations they said were targeted.

The statement from the IRGC followed an earlier report by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

ISNA had published what it said was an IRGC statement declaring that any response to a fresh U.S. attack on Iran would be “swift and decisive.”

The agency later removed that statement. No further details were provided regarding the deletion or the circumstances surrounding the reported warning issued before the later statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

(With files from Reuters)