The gleaming city of Dubai had long been the safest haven in a volatile Middle East, offering a life of luxury to Iranian businessmen, American celebrities and Russian oligarchs alike.
That image was irrevocably shaken this weekend, when Iran responded to an American and Israeli assault by firing hundreds of missiles and launching drones at the wealthy countries of the Persian Gulf, home to several U.S. military bases.
In Dubai, five-star hotels caught fire, explosions rattled the windows of apartment towers and the emirate’s bustling international airport was damaged, injuring seven people. Social media influencers and terrified migrant workers shared videos of fiery projectiles in the night sky, streaking past the city’s iconic skyscrapers.
More than 200 drones and 137 ballistic missiles targeted the United Arab Emirates alone, the Emirati defense ministry said on Sunday. Most of those projectiles were intercepted, but 14 drones fell into Emirati territory and waters. Fragments of missiles and drones that were intercepted rained down across the city, causing further damage and injuries.
“It is really a tough and serious moment,” said Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on the Gulf. “There was nothing that they valued more than that perception of safety — and they prided themselves on maneuvering politically and hedging to be basically on the good books of everyone.”
Dubai had cultivated close ties with Iran, partly in an effort to maintain its safe haven status; the Emirates is one of Iran’s largest trading partners. But not a single Gulf country was spared.
Even Oman — where officials had mediated talks between Iran and the United States to try to avert a war — was attacked. A drone hit housing at Duqm, a port on the Arabian Sea, injuring one foreign worker, according to Oman’s state news agency.
Foreign workers, who make up a large proportion of the population in the Gulf countries, appeared to be among the most affected. In Kuwait, a drone struck the airport, injuring 9 workers, the country’s state news agency reported. In the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, debris from an intercepted drone fell on the international airport, killing one “Asian national” and injuring seven people, the airport authority said.
Debris from a falling drone also struck the facade of Etihad Towers — a complex that contains the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi — causing minor injuries to a woman and her child, the emirate’s media office said on Sunday.
At least 16 people were injured in Qatar, the country’s interior ministry said. The Qatari defense ministry said on Sunday that it had intercepted 18 ballistic missiles fired across the country, which hosts a major American air base.
In the island nation of Bahrain, home to a major U.S. naval base, the government said it had shot down 45 missiles and nine drones. The interior ministry said that “several residential buildings” in the capital of Manama had been targeted, while government hospitals announced that at least four people were being treated for injuries.
Over the past few weeks, all of the Gulf governments had publicly sought to avert a war between the United States and Iran, fearing that the fallout would extend to their own countries. All of their economic models hinge on regional stability, and the ability to offer a safe foothold in the Middle East to financiers, businesses and tourists.
Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting from Dubai.
Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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