West Asia situation: Jaishankar holds talks with UAE Foreign Minister

EAM S Jaishankar and UAE's Foreign Minister discussed the West Asia situation. Meanwhile, UAE air defenses engaged Iranian missiles and drones, resulting in 6 deaths and 142 injuries, including Indian nationals. The UK also flew sorties in the region.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held a telephonic conversation with the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Jaishankar said he discussed the West Asia situation with Nahyan. In a post on X, he said, "Spoke last night to DPM & FM Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of UAE. Exchanged views on various aspects of the regional situation." https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/2033174276908703881?s=20

Meanwhile, in an operational update, the UK Ministry of Defence flew its sorties in several nations across the Middle East, including the UAE. In a post on X, it said, "Overnight, Typhoon and F-35 jets, supported by Voyager air-to-air refuelling, have flown sorties in defence of British interests and allies across Qatar, Cyprus, UAE, Jordan, and Bahrain." https://x.com/DefenceHQ/status/2033164051686052272?s=20

UAE Air Defence Responds to Iranian Attacks

Meanwhile, the UAE said that its "air defenses are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones." https://x.com/modgovae/status/2033165391648919929?s=20

The UAE Ministry of defence also said that Indian nationals are also among the injured. "UAE air defence systems engaged 4 ballistic missiles and 6 UAVs on 15th March 2026 coming from Iran. Since the start of the blatant Iranian attacks, UAE air defences have engaged 298 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,606 UAVs," it said. https://x.com/modgovae/status/2033160891978686915?s=20

"These attacks resulted in the death of 6 people of Emirati, Pakistani, Nepali and Bangladeshi nationalities, and 142 minor to moderate injuries among individuals of Emirati, Egyptian, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese, Afghan, Bahraini, Comorian, Turkish, Iraqi, Nepali, Nigerian, Omani, Jordanian, Palestinian, Ghanaian, Indonesian and Swedish nationalities," it added.

US President Comments on Iran

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said that Iranians have reached out to him for a deal, but that the terms "aren't good enough yet," as reported by Al Jazeera.

Fujairah Port Targeted in Drone Strike

On Saturday, it was reported that a drone strike had targeted the Fujairah Port in the UAE, triggering a fire. A well-informed Gulf analyst confirmed that the Iranian attack on Fujairah caused a fire from falling debris after the successful interception of a drone by UAE air defence systems, with no injuries reported. (ANI)

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