Iran's new attacks on the United Arab Emirates came about a week after the wealthy federation of Persian Gulf monarchies shocked the oil markets by saying it would withdraw from the OPEC cartel. Here are some of the reasons behind that dramatic step:

The move gives the U.A.E. more freedom to decide how much oil to pump. The country had sought in recent years to produce more oil than the cartel's production quotas allowed, and was one of the few members that had the spare capacity to do so. The U.A.E. could seek to derive greater global influence from the resulting ability to influence oil prices, particularly in a moment of crisis.

The U.A.E. could use any added revenue–at a time when oil prices are elevated–to offset war-related pressure on its earnings from tourism and business. It could also then direct capital toward securing its export routes by investing more in pipelines designed to bypass the bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz.

Leaving OPEC also makes a statement about the U.A.E.'s aspirations for regional power and its view of its security interests. The move brings it out of the shadow of its larger neighbor, Saudi Arabia, the cartel's main powerhouse, and casts a spotlight on the U.A.E.'s growing security cooperation with Israel.

The U.A.E. is also a significant military power, and the Iran war has highlighted the threats that it faces. Iran has fired more missiles and drones at the U.A.E. than any other target, including Israel. Monday's strikes included a drone attack on the U.A.E. port of Fujairah, which is critical in part because it sits on the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz, which means Abu Dhabi can move some crude pumped from its fields directly to the coast without sending tankers through the strait.

The U.A.E. also has been growing closer to the U.S. in recent years. It was the first Trump administration that orchestrated the Abraham Accords in which the U.A.E. and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

In the wake of the U.A.E.'s decision to withdraw from OPEC, President Trump said, “I think ultimately it’s a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5863684&forum_id=2...id.#49865544)