Tuesday, March 17, 2026
News

UAE shuts airspace following Iranian missile, drone strikes

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend    Print this Page   COMMENT

Abu Dhabi | March 17, 2026 7:21:46 AM IST
The General Civil Aviation Authority has announced the temporary and full closure of the United Arab Emirates airspace, Al Jazeera reported.

As per Al Jazeera, State media said the move was "an exceptional precautionary measure" aimed at ensuring the safety of flights and air crews, as well as safeguarding the UAE's territory.

Earlier, the UAE's Ministry of Defence stated that it was responding to a new wave of missile and drone attacks launched by Iran, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, the UAE Ministry of Defence said its air defence systems are actively responding to incoming missiles and drones launched from Iran, as per Al Jazeera.

Separately, authorities in Dubai stated that the sounds heard across parts of the city were due to successful interception operations carried out by air defence systems, according to the Dubai Media Office's X post.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi authorities have suspended operations at the massive Shah gas field while they assess damage from a drone attack, which ignited a fire, the Abu Dhabi media office said in a post to social media Tuesday, CNN reported.

As per CNN, the Shah gas field, about 180 kilometres (112 miles) southwest of Abu Dhabi city, is one of the largest in the world, with the capacity to produce 1.28 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, according to its operator, the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

The fire has since been contained, and no injuries have been reported, the media office said, as reported by CNN.

The United Arab Emirates' energy and transport infrastructure have been repeatedly targeted by Iran throughout the war, CNN reported.

On Monday, an "advanced fire" broke out at the UAE's Fujairah petroleum industrial zone after it was targeted by a drone attack, according to the Fujairah Media Office, CNN reported. (ANI)

 
  LATEST COMMENTS ()
POST YOUR COMMENT
Comments Not Available
 
POST YOUR COMMENT
 
 
TRENDING TOPICS
 
 
CITY NEWS
MORE CITIES
 
 
 
MORE WORLD NEWS
Drone strike triggers fire at Fujairah O...
'Nobody's seen him, which is unusual': T...
Trump says Iran 'wants to make a deal' a...
Jaishankar concludes Brussels visit, say...
'Dozens of munitions dropped on command ...
Legal uproar in PoGB after senior lawyer...
More...
 
INDIA WORLD ASIA
Congress' Karamvir Singh Baudh, BJP's Sa...
Arunachal: 4 killed, 3 injured after lan...
Telangana: 2 held for manufacturing and ...
Rajya Sabha MP Dilip Ray visits Jagannat...
Nanda Devi LPG tanker set to arrive at V...
IIT Guwahati Researchers create material...
More...    
 
 Top Stories
Irfan optimistic about Shreyas Iyer... 
Anupam Kher announces new musical p... 
Matrixdock Launches XAGm, Bringing ... 
MP Congress protests LPG shortage i... 
"Dozens of munitions dropped on com... 
Legal uproar in PoGB after senior l... 
Oil on boil: Upstream gains as down... 
Uniqus Consultech launches its Valu...