Israel’s reported deployment of its Iron Dome missile defence battery in the UAE signals a “watershed moment” in Middle Eastern security alignments, analysts say, as the war in Iran highlights the critical role of such air defence systems.

Israel sent an Iron Dome air-defence system along with troops to the United Arab Emirates “early in the war with Iran”, Axios said in a report this week citing two Israeli officials and one from the US.

The Israeli officials, who were not named, told the US...