Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates on 4 May, striking oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah and pushing the fragile US-Iran ceasefire to the edge of collapse.
The attack is the first on the UAE since the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on 8 April. It comes as the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supply, has been under sustained pressure since March 2026, a disruption already driving global crude prices to levels not seen in years and flowing directly into domestic fuel costs in countries including South Africa.
What happened at Fujairah
An Iranian drone sparked a large fire at the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone on Monday, a critical oil export hub positioned at the end of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Three Indian nationals were moderately injured in the attack. The UAE military separately intercepted three Iranian ballistic missiles over its waters; a fourth crashed into the sea before reaching its target.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company shut down its Fujairah refinery in response to the attack, taking offline a facility that would otherwise process 922,000 barrels of oil per day.
Fujairah has been central to UAE oil exports during the conflict precisely because it bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, giving producers a route to global markets while the waterway remained contested.
The UAE government condemned the strikes as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires to register a formal diplomatic protest.
Iran’s government had not publicly claimed or denied responsibility for the attacks at the time of publishing.
Ceasefire in doubt, oil prices spike
US President Donald Trump declined to confirm on Monday whether the ceasefire between the US and Iran remained in effect following the UAE strikes, as reported by CNN.
That ambiguity was enough to send Brent crude trading close to $120 a barrel in the hours after the attack, as reported by Bloomberg, with markets pricing in the risk of a full resumption of hostilities.
The immediate consequences extend to South Africa. The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has attributed the country’s sharp May fuel price adjustment to sustained disruption along the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian-linked infrastructure attacks on the region’s oil production capacity.
Petrol 95 rises by R3.27 per litre from 6 May, while diesel is set to hit a new national record. Any further escalation risks feeding directly into the next scheduled adjustment.
The UAE has said it reserves the right to respond to the attack and has placed its air defence systems on heightened alert. Formal diplomatic engagements between Washington and Tehran are expected in the days ahead, and those conversations will determine whether the April 8 ceasefire survives or the region returns to open conflict.
