The Daily Mail reports that when Iran struck the United Arab Emirates in February 2026, in retaliation for US-Israeli airstrikes, influencers and expatriates initially posted videos and photographs of missiles and drones hitting the country. According to the article, this flow of imagery abruptly stopped as the UAE launched a legal crackdown intended to conceal the scale of the damage. The claims feature in an episode of the Mail's "Photo Evidence" series, which argues the UAE mounted an information blackout to downplay how far Iranian attacks reached.

The report says that on the first day of attacks alone, Dubai's Fairmont and Burj Al Arab hotels, Dubai International Airport and Jebel Ali port were all hit. Host Catherine Barnwell and Bellingcat investigative journalist Sebastian Vandermeersch argue that no country faced more attacks during the conflict, yet official messaging focused on interceptions, continuity and normality. They suggest Iran's aim was to impose economic as well as physical costs, with each diverted flight or burning fuel tank challenging the idea that the Gulf could stay insulated from a regional war.