France has deployed Dassault Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to safeguard its military installations amid rising regional tensions and reported Iranian drone activity.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed Tuesday that the aircraft, stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, have been actively securing the airspace above French naval and air force facilities.
“These Rafales and their pilots are mobilised to ensure the security of our facilities,” Barrot told BFMTV, noting that they conducted operations over the weekend to neutralise Iranian drones.
France maintains several hundred military personnel across naval, air, and ground units in the UAE. According to Barrot, a hangar at a French base was struck by a drone on Sunday, underscoring the growing threat environment.
Diplomatic and military consultations are intensifying, he added, as Paris works with Emirati authorities to strengthen defensive measures and safeguard French strategic interests in the Gulf.
Barrot also clarified that France’s aircraft carrier, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, remains in the North Atlantic participating in a previously scheduled multinational exercise and has not been redirected to the Mediterranean.
The heightened alert follows a dramatic escalation in the region after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, reportedly killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has since retaliated by targeting U.S. allies across the Gulf.
Authorities in the emirate of Fujairah reported that debris from a drone interception sparked a fire in an oil zone Tuesday, though it was quickly contained. In Abu Dhabi, a drone struck a fuel storage terminal on Monday, igniting a blaze but leaving operations largely unaffected.
Meanwhile, tech giant Amazon disclosed that two of its UAE data centres were directly hit by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East.
As tensions ripple across the Gulf, France’s military posture in the UAE signals a firm commitment to protecting its assets and personnel amid an increasingly volatile regional standoff.
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