'Go take them' - Trump reportedly encouraged UAE to seize Iran's Lavan Island in Persian Gulf

Amid reports of a possible resumption of military operations in Iran, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing the United Arab Emirates to become more involved in those operations, The Telegraph reports.

A former U.S. security official claims that some in the Trump administration encouraged the UAE to seize Lavan Island, the same site struck by the Emirates in a secret operation in early April.

“Go take ‘em!” The Telegraph reported the official as saying.

The official also acknowledged that support for the idea in the Trump administration stems from the fact that “it would be UAE boots on the ground instead of U.S.”

The UAE, which was targeted by more missile and drone attacks than any other country during the Iran conflict, has resisted taking a more aggressive stance by openly admitting its role in strikes on Iranian facilities. Instead, UAE leaders have expressed their right to “protect our people and our country.”

The U.S. has reportedly tried to coax other Gulf states, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia into openly joining the war against Iran, following Iranian attacks on those countries. However, neither country has been willing to publicly commit to striking Iran.

The United Arab Emirates have been increasingly aligning with several U.S. and Israeli interests in recent months, and the report of U.S. encouragement to openly join the military operations against Iran appears to be aimed at furthering this alignment.

Barbara Leaf, a former U.S. ambassador to the UAE, told the New York Times that the Emirates are reevaluating their regional relationships in light of the Iran war and the failure of its neighbors to confront the Islamic Republic.

“The longer this is going on, the more time they’ve had to reflect about their place in the world, their place in the Gulf – who’s a friend and who’s not,” Leaf said following the UAE’s decision to quit OPEC earlier this month. “They are looking at things in pretty stark, black and white terms, of friend or foe.”

One of those friends appears to be Israel, who supported the UAE by sending an Iron Dome battery during the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan following the Iranian attack on the UAE in early May.

At the same time, the UAE and Iran already have a longstanding dispute over several Persian Gulf islands. Since 1971, the islands of Abu Musa, and the neighboring Greater and Lesser Tunbs, have been claimed by both nations, following discrepancies in British administration of the islands, which saw the European nation promise the territories to both Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and to Emirati sheikhs.

The Shah seized the islands after the British withdrew, in a move supported at that time, by the United States, due to the friendly relations between the U.S. and the Shah.

However, with the Strait of Hormuz becoming such a key issue in the conflict with Iran, the islands, along with Lavan Island, appear crucial for disrupting Iranian control of the critical waterway.

The U.S. encouragement to seize Lavan Island appear to be part of a U.S. attempt to reshape the region by having the Gulf states play a more active part in the conflict which affects their own security and economies.

At the same time, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are reportedly concerned that the U.S. could be reducing its own role in the region.

When the U.S. announced the end of Project Freedom earlier this month, just one day after unveiling the initiative, officials said the decision came at the request of “Pakistan and other countries.” Reports later emerged claiming Saudi Arabia had denied the U.S. use of its airspace in support of the mission. However, Arab and Hebrew media subsequently reported that the dispute over airspace access was actually tied to Washington’s failure to condemn Iranian strikes on the UAE and Gulf-state vessels.

So far, the Gulf states do not appear ready to take a more aggressive stance towards Iran, while awaiting the U.S.’s own decision on whether to resume military operations.

Over the weekend, President Trump posted an AI image to his Truth Social account, appearing to threaten a resumption of combat operations. The picture depicts Trump with a Navy admiral above the deck of a naval vessel in rough seas.