Investigation reveals how UAE authorities censored evidence and arrested civilians following Iranian missile and drone strikes in February and March 2026 to control the narrative of damage and maintain an image of invulnerability.
In February, as Iran launched retaliatory strikes against US-Israel targets, the United Arab Emirates found itself on the receiving end of a barrage of missiles and drones.
The attacks, which represented the most intensive Iranian assault on the UAE to date, quickly filled social media with harrowing videos and photos from expatriates and influencers. Iconic landmarks including the Burj Al Arab hotel and the Fairmont hotel on Palm Jumeirah, along with critical infrastructure like Dubai International Airport and the Jebel Ali port, were struck.
However, according to a recent investigation by the Daily Mail's Photo Evidence series, featuring Bellingcat investigative journalist Sebastian Vandermeersch, the flood of user-generated imagery was swiftly stemmed as UAE authorities embarked on a comprehensive legal crackdown to suppress evidence of the attacks' impact. The episode, hosted by Catherine Barnwell, argues that no nation endured more strikes during the escalation and none worked harder to obscure the results from global view.
The UAE's public narrative overwhelmingly emphasized successful air defense interceptions and a return to normalcy, downplaying the physical and economic damage Iran sought to inflict. Journalist Sebastian Vandermeersch meticulously dissects the disparity between official statements and open-source evidence.
For instance, while Dubai authorities attributed a fire at the Burj Al Arab to debris from an intercepted missile, expert analysis cited in the report indicates the flames, reaching heights of approximately 30 meters or eight floors, and the pattern of damage are far more consistent with a direct drone strike. Similarly, multiple independent videos captured a drone hitting the Fairmont hotel on February 28, an event never formally acknowledged by officials beyond a vague statement about an "incident" in the Palm Jumeirah area.
The investigation also highlights an attack on an oil facility in Fujairah on March 14, where plumes of smoke were visible, and another on the Al Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi. In the Fujairah case, despite video apparently showing an intact drone descending behind storage tanks before exploding, local media offices claimed the fire resulted from interception debris and was quickly controlled.
A central component of the UAE's response was not just narrative management but active prosecution of civilians who documented the events. The Mail on Sunday reported in March that up to 70 British nationals were detained for photographing or filming the attacks. Among those held was a 60-year-old British tourist arrested while filming a missile strike.
The organization Detained in Dubai confirmed to Photo Evidence that a Vietnamese national was also detained for posting footage of a drone hitting Fujairah port-a vital node for global oil flows, handling about 1.7 million barrels daily. These actions underscored a broader strategy to control the information environment, framing the Gulf state as impregnable and any disruptions as minor anomalies.
The Daily Mail's investigation uses geolocated videos, expert military analysis, and leaked documents-such as a UAE Ministry of Defence tally of downed drones and missiles-to reconstruct a fuller picture of the attacks and the deliberate effort to conceal their scale and impact from the international community
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