US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz confirmed Monday that Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system was used to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first government official to publicly verify that the equipment was deployed and used in the UAE during the recent fighting.

Waltz made the comments in remarks at an Independence Day event hosted by the Israeli Mission to the UN in New York.

“We saw the UAE make use of the Iron Dome provided to it by Israel,” the Israel Hayom daily quoted Waltz as having said.

The remarks were confirmed to The Times of Israel by a source present at the event.

Israel’s provision of an Iron Dome battery and soldiers to operate it was first reported last month by the Axios news site and later confirmed to The Times of Israel by two Arab diplomats familiar with the matter.

It marked the first time the system has been sent to another country outside of Israel and the US, Axios reported, citing Israeli and American officials.

Since the war began on February 28, Israeli and Emirati officials said, the two countries have been in close military and political coordination, with the Israeli Air Force also carrying........

© The Times of Israel