Opinion | Missiles Over Dubai: Inside The UAE During The West Asian Crisis

Lt Gen I S Singha (retd)

While the war may continue for longer than Netanyahu and Trump had thought of, UAE government continues to carry out confidence-building measures & trying to ensure near normalcy

While having dinner with few well-placed friends in Dubai on February 25 at Chicken Tikka Inn, the talk generally revolved around the imminent attack by Israeli and US governments on the Iranian regime and its fallout on the region and rest of the world. While the geopolitical and economic implications of such a war were discussed, a direct attack on UAE was generally ruled out. Less than 84 hours later, we were proved totally wrong.

In the day light hours of Saturday, February 28, based on real-time actionable intelligence, the Israelis followed by the US launched a pre-emptive attack on a group of 29 senior leaders in Tehran and killed a large number of them, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini and engulfed the whole of West Asia into a war zone.

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For years, Dubai has been touted as the most liveable and peaceful city in the world and has become a travel hub akin to Singapore, London and Istanbul. Expats from around the globe have been settling down in Dubai to lead a more peaceful and rewarding life for themselves and their families. The real estate prices have skyrocketed in the last few years post Covid-19. It was business as usual on February 28 with Ramadan tourists thronging the various malls and places of interest. We were in Dubai Mall about to order lunch at Nandos when I got a call from my son in Mumbai that Abu Dhabi was under attack and we must head home towards Jumeira 3 where we live. He was to return to Dubai the next day. We cancelled the lunch and got into the car which was waiting to take us home.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, we continued to hear intermittent sounds of interception and destruction of Israeli missiles by air defence Patriot missiles. The pace of engagement picked up in the evening and the Dubai airport was closed after some projectiles landed there and injured four persons. A worker was killed in Abu Dhabi where the US base was targeted. A fire broke out in Palm Jumeira where the debris of the Iranian and the Patriot missile landed. The Burj Al Arab was also targeted and we could hear the warning sirens. However, the very next evening, Burj Al Arab as well as Burj Khalifa had decorative lighting as usual along with the fountain show at Burj Khalifa.

We were scheduled to have dinner with friends in Jumeira 1 but had to call it off as the roads were deserted by then. The government machinery came into action and travel warnings were issued. Citizens were advised to stay home and not come in the open. The UAE government, through a graphic message, reassured citizens that the Thermal High Altitude Air Defence System (Thaad) was the most advanced in the world and it will ensure the protection of their citizens and property. We decided not to sleep in the bedrooms on the first floor of our villa but lay mattresses under the staircase on the ground floor. The other option was to go to the basement of the nearby J3 Mall but spending the entire night in the SUV with two kids was overruled by me. At night, our phones received warnings several times to state that there may be a missile attack and we should remain indoors in a safe place. The night was spent hearing the intermittent firing with sleep interrupted several times.

After the debris caused fire in the upward superb of Jumeira Palm, a family known to us packed their essentials, booked a hotel in Fujerah in the desert and drove and covered the two-hour drive at night. Once they got up in the morning in the hotel on Day 2, they heard few booms and realised that they were in the close vicinity of a US Airforce Base which was under missile attack from Iran! Fortunately, most of the missiles were intercepted by the air defence unit and there was little damage. Another expat family undertook a seven-hour journey to drive to Muscat and catch a plane for London. Since they travelled in a taxi, they had to spend three hours at the border to do the formalities. We weighed our options and decided to stick around and confine ourselves to our home. Later in the day, as the situation improved, we went for a short walk in the vicinity and had coffee in the nearby mall. The second night was less intense but we still stayed on the ground floor and put our mattresses in a central place protected by sofas from all sides.

The government of UAE passed specific instructions to all hotels not to deny accommodation to stranded passengers and send the bill to the government once they could be flown out safely to their home countries. The passengers at the airport were taken in buses to hotels and the airport was cleared. The UAE government amongst other Gulf Countries conveyed to the powers that be in the new council governing Iran that it was not correct on their part to target their neighbours. The Iranians had, on their end, declared that they were only engaging US bases in the region and the collateral damage was regretted. It seems the UAE government summoned the Israeli ambassador and conveyed to the Iranian authorities that this aggressive action of theirs left the UAE with only two options. Option 1 was to retaliate independently or in close coordination with the US forces with all their military might and declare war. Option 2 was to show restraint provided Iran stopped attacking their country with the missiles and allowed their air space to operate commercial flights.

It seems the Iranians agreed to Option 2 as a result of which the Dubai airport was made operational and selected Emirati flights took off on Day 3 to carry stranded tourists safely to their home countries. As a gesture of solidarity and confidence-building measures, the Royalty headed by HE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayad (MBZ) and other nobles walked around in Dubai Mall, interacted with tourists and enjoyed their lunch leisurely in the mall. The UAE government needs to be complimented to have handled the situation in the most mature manner as also ensuring safety and security of their citizens, expats and tourists.

The war in West Asia still continues and the Trump administration and Israel have probably realised that the retaliatory response from Iran has been very strong and unaccepted. While the war had become a regional war and is expected to be a fairly long haul, Gulf and other Arab countries are finding ways and means to ensure safety and security of their citizens, expats and visitors. The world at large will have to cope with the economic fallouts of the war, especially the spiralling oil prices after the restrictions imposed by Iran at the Strait of Hormuz.

The UAE government held a press release on Day 4 and assured the entire population that they were on top of the situation and would do everything in their power to ensure safety and security of every one. Statistics shared showed that around 670 Iranian drones and 169 missiles were intercepted and destroyed in the last 72 hours. On questioning, the people were assured that there was more than adequate stockpile of patriot and other missiles to ward off all future attacks. While the war may continue for much longer than Netanyahu and Trump had thought of and desired, the UAE government continues to carry out confidence-building measures and trying to ensure near normalcy in the country.

(The author was Head of the Mission and Force Commander of UN Peacekeeping Mission (UNDOF) between Israel and Syria at Golan Heights from 2012 to 2014. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.)

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