Emirates Denies Arresting Terrorists Targeting Israelis

The United Arab Emirates has denied an Israeli media report that its security services arrested a number of Iranian suspects who were conspiring to carry out a terror attack against Israelis tourists.

“The Government of the United Arab Emirates has denied media reports circulating today regarding the foiling of an alleged attack in Dubai,” it said in a statement.

Amid the excitement of normalization and the influx of thousands of Israeli tourists into the UAE have come jitters as well.

On Sunday night, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that authorities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi had thwarted a group of Iranian terrorists out to target Israelis in the country.

The report said UAE authorities were still investigating, and were sharing information gleaned from the suspects “with friendly states,” presumably including Israel.

The UAE called dismissed the Channel 12 report as “rumors” and that they were “wholly false, and urged accuracy in reporting.”

The report came one year after the United States assassinated Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and a month and a half after the head of Iran’s military nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed, allegedly by Israel. Since Fakhrizadeh’s death, Israeli officials have warned that Tehran may seek revenge by attacking Israelis abroad, including in the UAE and Bahrain.