UAE and Qatar seek to persuade Trump to halt military action against Iran

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, two Gulf states that have come under missile and drone fire in recent days as part of Iran’s retaliatory attacks, are working “rapidly” to improve their air defense capabilities and have asked their allies for assistance, Ynet News writes, referring to Bloomberg.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the United Arab Emirates sought help from its allies in defending against medium-range threats, while Qatar requested assistance in intercepting drone attacks.

Bloomberg also reported that, according to an internal assessment obtained by the news agency, Qatar’s stockpile of Patriot interceptors could be depleted within four days at the current rate of use.

Amid those concerns, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are seeking to persuade US President Donald Trump, with the help of their “allies,” to find an “off-ramp” from the war and bring the fighting to a swift end, the report said.

Since the start of the attack on Iran on Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched missiles and drones at a number of Gulf Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.