France sends Rafale fighters to secure its military bases in the UAE after drone attacks, as regional tensions escalate following strikes on Iran.
PARIS: France has deployed Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its naval and air bases from Iranian attacks.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed the deployment on Tuesday, stating the aircraft are mobilised to ensure the security of French facilities.
The Rafales are stationed at the Al-Dhafra base near Abu Dhabi, where France has hundreds of military personnel.
“They have carried out operations to secure the airspace above our bases,” Barrot told broadcaster BFMTV.
This action follows a drone strike on a hangar at a French base in the UAE on Sunday.
Barrot said exchanges are ongoing to determine how the UAE can defend itself and how France can protect its interests there.
The minister also addressed the location of France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
He confirmed it remains in the North Atlantic for a planned multinational exercise and has not been rerouted to the Mediterranean.
Regional tensions have soared since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on Saturday, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran has since targeted US allies across the Gulf region.
In the UAE, debris from a drone interception caused a contained fire at an oil industry zone in Fujairah on Tuesday.
A separate drone struck a fuel tank terminal in Abu Dhabi on Monday, causing a fire that did not impact operations.
Tech giant Amazon reported late Monday that two of its UAE data centres were “directly struck” by drones.
These attacks disrupted cloud services in parts of the Middle East.
