One less expected development since the US and Israel unleashed an air war on Iran last weekend has been the distribution of the Iranian response. The revelation isn’t that Tehran has attacked US bases in the Persian Gulf, as it said it would, or that it began to go after regional energy supplies, which was at least predictable. What’s surprising is the way in which it has singled out the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE has neither the most important US military base in the Gulf, nor much in the way of oil and gas production. It’s also important to Iran’s economy, as an entrepôt for trade and commerce. The Emiratis, like other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said they wouldn’t allow their territory or airspace to be used in the US-Israeli campaign and have kept their word.

© Bloomberg