Iranian Drones Strike UAE Oil Facility and Tanker

The UAE has Israeli advisors on the ground helping with air defense, and an Iron Dome battery is based in the UAE. Arab countries have been coordinating with Israel since the beginning of the Iran War.

These developments highlight ongoing military cooperation amid the conflict that began with initial strikes on February 28, 2026. Tucker Carlson claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally persuaded President Donald Trump to go to war with Iran, overruling the Joint Chiefs of Staff and most senior advisors.

Carlson referenced a New York Times piece as backup for his claim about Netanyahu's persuasion of Trump.

The New York Times reported that Netanyahu and Mossad made a hard sell to President Trump ahead of the initial strikes on February 28, 2026. A crucial meeting took place in February 2026 between President Trump, Netanyahu, and top cabinet members and national security officials from the Trump Administration and Netanyahu’s government.

During the February 2026 meeting, Israeli officials pitched Trump a regime change war against Iran that would end in near-certain victory and weaken the regime to prevent control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Netanyahu delivered his presentation in a confident monotone during the February 2026 meeting. Mossad’s intelligence indicated that intense bombing could create conditions for the Iranian opposition to topple the regime. Mossad’s intelligence also pointed to Iranian Kurdish fighters opening a new front in the war to fuel the regime’s collapse.

President Trump said, 'Sounds good to me,' to Netanyahu during the February 2026 meeting. The Trump administration denied that Israel played an outsized role in the decision to launch Operation Epic Fury.

President Trump said early in March 2026, 'They were going to attack if we didn’t do it. I felt strongly about that. I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen.

So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand. Former President Barack Obama claimed in an interview that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to drag him into a war with Iran during his presidency. The interview with Barack Obama was published in The New Yorker and occurred on Monday, May 4, 2026.

Obama told The New Yorker, 'I think my prognosis was accurate. Maybe with the war, Netanyahu has gotten what he wanted. Whether that’s what is best for the Israeli people, I would question that.

Whether I think it’s what is good for the United States and America, I would question that. I think there’s an ample record of my differences with Mr. Obama also addressed Trump’s threats in early April to wipe out Iranian civilization, stating, 'I believe American leadership, as represented by the American President, has to reflect a basic regard for human dignity and decency, not just within our own borders but beyond.

That’s part of the responsibility of leadership. U.S.

President Donald Trump, spoke during a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025. U.S. political development, Maine's Democratic governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign for the Senate last week, prior to May 4, 2026.

Janet Mills' suspension paves the way for her rival Graham Platner, aged 41, an oysterman and antiwar firebrand. Graham Platner has called for an end to Benjamin Netanyahu's war in Iran and described Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide.