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The Wall Street Journal’s bombshell that the United Arab Emirates quietly launched strikes inside Iran confirms what many of us suspected: Gulf partners were not going to stand idly by as Tehran terrorized the neighborhood. According to reporting compiled by multiple outlets, those covert operations included an attack on the Lavan Island refinery in early April that ignited a major blaze and knocked significant capacity offline.
If true, Abu Dhabi’s move was the hard-nosed, practical defense of a nation that has borne the brunt of Iranian assaults and will not tolerate being a sitting duck. The aftermath — a wave of Iranian missile and drone retaliation aimed at the UAE and Kuwait — shows the regime in Tehran has only contempt for restraint and responds to strength with more violence. These developments underscore that America’s Gulf partners are learning the hard lesson that neutrality is a luxury you cannot afford when your people and economy are under fire.
Washington should not blush at allies taking care of their own security when facing asymmetric threats; secrecy in such operations is often the difference between disruption and escalation. Reports tie the Lavan attack to advanced Emirati aircraft operating with surgical intent, which forced Tehran to lash out in the region rather than face the consequences at home. This is exactly the kind of decisive, calibrated pressure that keeps wars limited and the bad actors off balance.
Let’s be clear: Iran started this spiral by sponsoring proxies, launching missiles, and threatening global commerce in the Strait of Hormuz. The regime’s predictable outrage after suffering damage only proves it understands force and respects it when applied. Americans who love peace through strength should applaud partners who finally meet aggression with consequences instead of more weak-kneed diplomacy that invites further attacks.
All of this comes as President Trump prepares to meet Xi Jinping in Beijing, a rendezvous with enormous geopolitical stakes where the fate of the global energy market and regional security will be on the table. The timing could not be more critical: the world needs a leader who will defend American interests and back our allies, not cave to mandarins in Beijing who still dabble with Tehran behind closed doors. The White House must use the summit to make clear that America stands with those who oppose Iranian aggression and will not tolerate a nuclear-armed, expansionist theocracy.
Patriots should demand that Washington reward courage and expose hypocrisy: if Gulf states are risking lives to blunt Tehran, then the U.S. must ensure they have the intelligence, munitions, and diplomatic cover to finish the job. The soft-left chorus that lectures sovereign nations on “restraint” while Tehran fires missiles at civilian targets should be ignored — this is a fight over civilization and order, and conservatives must side squarely with resolute action. America’s safety, and that of our friends in the Gulf, depends on leaders willing to act, to call out enemies, and to secure peace by projecting unmistakable strength.
