Iran US Entangled Emirates
FILE - A vendor sits inside a shop at the empty Al Seef market, one of the main tourist areas of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 13, 2026, as tourism slows during the Iran war.
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The United Arab Emirates for decades advertised itself as a haven for business in the Middle East. But the UAE, a close ally of the United States and Israel, faced more combined missile and drone attacks from Iran in the war than any other country. Those assaults, coupled with Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, have more than halved the Emirates’ exports of crude oil and natural gas. Its tourism and conference sectors have also suffered. The war’s disruptions so far do not appear to have caused major job losses or an exodus of foreign business. Yet the longer the standoff drags on and prevents business as usual in the Emirates, the greater the risk to its image.