Iran has informed Saudi Arabia and Oman that it is planning a “major” strike against the United Arab Emirates, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The report does not specify when the attack could take place or what targets may be involved.

The semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars, believed to be close to the Guard, issued a threat Saturday to the UAE. Quoting an anonymous official, Fars said continued strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure would mean that the “airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as the ports of Fujairah and Jebel Ali, must be immediately evacuated.”

Apparently responding to the threat, the Emirates’ Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling “for exercising the utmost restraint in order to avoid dangerous repercussions, and the region being pulled into new levels of violence and instability.”

“The UAE emphasized that the targeting of civilian infrastructure and civilian facilities in the region … constitute a flagrant and grave violation of the established principles and provisions of international law, and cannot, under any circumstances, be accepted or justified,” the statement added.

The new threat has placed the Gulf Arab states on heightened alert after infrastructure facilities and shipping routes in the region have already been attacked.

During the Iran war, officials say both the UAE and Saudi Arabia carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Tehran for targeting their nations.

The secretary-general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.

The U.S. Central Command announced overnight that it had completed its eighth consecutive wave of strikes in Iran, targeting air defense systems, naval capabilities, missile and drone storage sites, and coastal surveillance infrastructure.

The U.S. strikes resumed after Iran’s attack in Jordan, in which two American soldiers were killed, and another service member was reported missing. At the same time, Tehran has expanded its missile and drone attacks in recent days against targets across the Gulf states, raising fears that the conflict could spill over into an even broader regional confrontation.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem & AP)