An economist has urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to refrain from deepening its involvement in the ongoing Middle East conflict, warning that the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi could be at significant risk.
Jeffrey Sachs described the UAE’s current position as an “absurd mess,” criticising its alignment with the United States and Israel. He advised the nation against “doubling down on a losing proposition,” as “Abu Dhabi and Dubai could be blown up,” he told ANI.
He issued a stark warning: “Basically, Dubai and Abu Dhabi could be blown up if the UAE gets into the war. These are resort areas.
“These are tourist destinations. These are not fortified missile defence areas. These are places where rich people are going to party and put their money. And to enter a war zone is to defeat the entire purpose of a place like Dubai.
“The Emirates got itself into an absurd mess with its eyes open. And it keeps doubling down, by the way.”
Sachs added: “I don’t want to be misunderstood, but the naivete of this announcing yesterday that we’re going to join this effort against the evil Iranians, and we’re going to continue to honour our commitment to put trillions of dollars into the United States. Come on. Enough. Protect yourself.
“Understand the situation. You think that doubling down on a losing proposition is really the right way to proceed at this point, but that’s exactly what they’re doing.”
These warnings come amid a new wave of missile and drone attacks across the region by Iran, with strikes reported in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq on Tuesday. A fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker, the Al Salmi, was struck in Dubai waters on Monday, resulting in a fire approximately 31 nautical miles northwest of the city.
Authorities confirmed multiple explosions in Dubai early on March 30, with loud blasts also reported in Bahrain and the Khobar region of Saudi Arabia. In Kuwait, a suspected Iranian attack on a power generation and water desalination facility caused significant damage, and there are fears of casualties.
The attacks follow stark warnings from Donald Trump, who stated he was prepared to strike Iran “harder than ever before” and unleash “hell” if violence continued.
In Dubai, very loud interception blasts were reported as UAE air defences responded to the missile threats.
