Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a “secret” meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates during the war with Iran, his office said yesterday, amid reports that Saudi Arabia and the UAE struck Iran during the conflict.

“During Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” his office said in a statement.

A source familiar with the meeting said the leaders met in Al-Ain, an oasis city by the Oman border, on March 26 and that their meeting lasted several hours. It resulted in a “historic breakthrough” in relations between Israel and the UAE.

The source said that Mossad Chief Dedi Barnea made at least two visits to the UAE during the war to coordinate military actions. The intelligence chief’s visit was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Yesterday’s announcement comes a day after US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced that Israel had sent its Iron Dome air defence systems and personnel to operate them to the UAE during the war with Iran.

Iran targeted the UAE more than any other country during the war, which was sparked by US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic at the end of February.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the UAE carried out military strikes on Iran, citing people familiar with the matter.

The strikes, which the UAE has not publicly acknowledged, included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, WSJ said, adding that the attack took place in early April.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The developments came as Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicised strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the war.

The attacks, launched by the Saudi Air Force, were assessed to have been carried out in late March, the two Western officials said. One said only that they were “tit-for-tat strikes in retaliation for when Saudi (Arabia) was hit.”

Reuters was unable to confirm what the specific targets were.

Saudi Arabia, which has a deep military relationship with the United States, has traditionally relied on US military for protection, but the 10-week war has left the kingdom vulnerable to attacks that have pierced the US military umbrella.

According to sources, an informal de-escalation took effect in the week before Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in their broader conflict on April 7.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he does not expect to need China’s help to end the war in Iran and ease Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, in remarks made before he arrived in Beijing yesterday for a summit with President Xi Jinping.

“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise,” he told reporters.

Iran has appeared to firm up its control over the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, cutting deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

Iranian officials have signalled they see that control as a long-term strategic goal. An army spokesperson said supervision of the waterway could generate revenue amounting to twice Iran’s oil income, while strengthening its foreign policy leverage.

More than one month after a tenuous ceasefire took effect, US and Iranian demands to end the war remain far apart.

Washington has called for Tehran to scrap its nuclear programme and lift its chokehold on the strait, while Iran has demanded compensation for war damage, an end to the US blockade and a halt to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is battling Iran-backed Hezbollah. Trump has dismissed those positions as “garbage.”

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that senior US and Chinese officials had agreed last month that no country should be able to charge tolls on traffic through the region, in an effort to project consensus on the issue ahead of the summit.

China, a major buyer of Iranian oil that maintains close ties with Tehran, did not dispute that account.