Smoke rises after an explosion in the industrial zone, caused by debris from the interception of an Iranian drone by air defence, according to the Fujairah media office on 5 March, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

• Authorities arrested 27 members of a terrorist organisation with ties to Iran’s “Velayat-e Faqih” (Guardianship of the Jurist) who were planning systematic terrorist and sabotage operations in the UAE.
• The cell was attempting to recruit and indoctrinate Emiratis during secret meetings.
• These arrests are part of a wider regional effort by Gulf states to dismantle Iran and Hezbollah-linked cells.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said on Monday they arrested members of an Iran-linked group plotting “terrorist” acts in the country, attempting to recruit Emiratis and funnelling funds to “suspicious” foreign entities.

The arrests came as Gulf states clamped down on cells linked to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah after Tehran struck its Gulf neighbours in the ongoing Middle East war.

Before a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect, the UAE had borne the brunt of Tehran’s attacks, weathering more Iranian strikes than any other country, though most were intercepted.

“The State Security Department announced the dismantling of a terrorist organisation and the arrest of its members,” it said, adding they were “planning systematic terrorist and sabotage operations” in the UAE.

“Investigations revealed the organisation’s ties to the Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) in Iran,” it added in a statement published on X.

State security also shared mugshots of 27 men and their names, without specifying their nationality.

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Group members were handed charges including “establishing and operating a secret organisation, running it from the UAE, pledging allegiance to foreign entities, and harming national unity and social peace,” it said.

The group had collected funds and transferred them to “suspicious foreign entities”.

They had tried to recruit and indoctrinate people during secret meetings that aimed to “infiltrate sensitive positions”, it said.

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The group also aimed to “spread misleading ideas among Emirati youth and recruit them to serve foreign interests, incite against the state’s foreign policy and internal procedures, and attempt to portray the country negatively,” state security said.

Last month, the UAE said it arrested at least five members of a “terrorist network” linked to Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Bahrain and Kuwait have also made similar arrests.