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Ahmed Mansoor targeted with Pegasus iPhone exploits traced to likely UAE operator

On 10 and 11 August 2016, UAE human-rights defender Ahmed Mansoor received SMS messages on his iPhone promising “new secrets” about detainees tortured in UAE prisons if he clicked a link. In the causal graph this event strengthens State Repression, a driver that strengthens Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex (victims per 100,000 population) — a worsening welfare path.

Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Wikimedia Commons portrait; person avatar reused as fact cover, land-pack1 pattern).

Sources: [1][2][3][4][5]

Read the full account

On 10 and 11 August 2016, UAE human-rights defender Ahmed Mansoor received SMS messages on his iPhone promising “new secrets” about detainees tortured in UAE prisons if he clicked a link. Instead he forwarded them to Citizen Lab, which, working with Lookout Security, found that the links led to a chain of iPhone zero-day exploits that would have installed NSO Group’s government-exclusive Pegasus spyware. In January 2019, Reuters reported that a UAE offensive cyber unit known as Project Raven, made up of Emirati security officials and former U.S. intelligence operatives working as contractors for UAE intelligence services, used a purchased tool called Karma to hack the iPhones of hundreds of activists, political figures and foreign leaders beginning in 2016. A spokeswoman for the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment to Reuters. In 2021, the Pegasus Project named the UAE among 11 countries with potential NSO clients. Mansoor was arrested in March 2017 and sentenced in May 2018 to 10 years in prison over his social-media posts. Mohamed bin Zayed was Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces throughout this period; no cited source shows that he personally ordered the targeting of Mansoor.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    Person

    Indirect / organizational responsibility

    verified

    Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces while the UAE government, the likely operator according to Citizen Lab, targeted Mansoor with Pegasus. Citizen Lab identified the UAE government as the likely operator of the Pegasus attempt, and Reuters documented a UAE intelligence hacking unit operating from 2016; no cited source shows a personal order by Mohamed bin Zayed. Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 is stored only because contributions.size is NOT NULL — not a sourced magnitude.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified5 sources on file
  1. 1.The Million Dollar Dissident: NSO Group’s iPhone Zero-Days Used Against A UAE Human Rights DefenderCitizen Lab · verified
  2. 2.UAE used cyber super-weapon to spy on iPhones of foesReuters (via CNBC) · verified
  3. 3.Massive data leak reveals Israeli NSO Group's spyware used to target activists, journalists, and political leaders globallyAmnesty International · verified
  4. 4.His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Imran Khan discuss bilateral relations, regional and international issuesUAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs · verified
  5. 5.UAE: Activist Ahmed Mansoor sentenced to 10 years in prison for social media postsAmnesty International · verified
What the sources establish

Citizen Lab said the high cost of the exploits, the use of Pegasus and prior known targeting of Mansoor by the UAE government pointed to the UAE government as the likely operator; it was the third commercial spyware suite used against him, after FinFisher in 2011 and Hacking Team in 2012.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorMohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
  2. contributed toFactAhmed Mansoor targeted with Pegasus iPhone exploits traced to likely UAE operator
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)State Repression
  4. strengthensIndicatorNumber of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex (victims per 100,000 population)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Ahmed Mansoor targeted with Pegasus iPhone exploits traced to likely UAE operator. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ae-ahmed-mansoor-pegasus-targeting-2016

https://factrail.ai/facts/ae-ahmed-mansoor-pegasus-targeting-2016

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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