ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Authorities in the UAE on Monday announced dismantling a “terrorist organization” linked to the Iranian doctrine of Guardianship of the Jurist (Wilayat al-Faqih) that was allegedly plotting operations in the country.

The members of the group were arrested on account of their involvement in “clandestine activities aimed at undermining national unity [of the UAE] and destabilizing the country by planning systematic terrorist and sabotage acts within its borders,” according to Emirati state media.

According to the report, investigations revealed that the group had ties with the Wilayat al-Faqih doctrine and conducted recruitment and indoctrination operations through meetings, according to a plan coordinated with “external entities, with the goal of infiltrating sensitive positions.”

The doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih is largely believed to have been advanced by Iran’s first Supreme Leader and religious authority Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The school of thought professes that power must be vested in a high-ranking religious figure, or faqih, in the absence of the Shiites’ twelfth imam.

Further investigations suggested that the group held meetings inside and outside the country, and aimed to “spread misleading ideas among Emirati youth and recruit them to serve foreign interests,” according to the state-run Emirati outlet.

Among the charges raised against the organization were “establishing and operating a secret organization within the country, pledging allegiance to foreign entities, and harming national unity and social peace.”

As Iran retaliated against US-Israeli strikes during the war, the UAE was hit the hardest among the Arab Gulf nations. 

According to data published by the defense ministry, the UAE’s air defenses had engaged “a total of 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles, and 2,256 UAVs” from Iran, before a two-week ceasefire took effect between Iran and the US. 

The state media report did not name the external parties involved in the organization’s activities, and did not specify the foreign interests that the group allegedly operated on behalf of.