Life in Dubai as Iran war continues

Tension hangs over Dubai. Social occasions and day-to-day activities are being interrupted by evacuation alerts and flashes in the sky as air defenses intercept drones, but much of life continues as normal, residents told CNBC.

Iran has launched drones and missiles towards neighbouring countries in the Middle East following U.S.-Israeli strikes against it that began on Feb. 28. Tehran has targeted U.S. military bases in the region, as well as oil and gas production facilities and civilian infrastructure. 

The United Arab Emirates, along with many other countries, has mobilised air defenses as attacks have continued into the second week of the conflict and rushed to reassure citizens and international investors, whom the country has been courting for years.

But Dubai Police has warned citizens that “photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.”

A total of 21 people have been charged in connection with social media posts about Iranian strikes, according to Detained In Dubai, which works to support people caught out by stringent local laws.

While many expatriates have scrambled to leave the region after the war broke out, others have elected to stay put, and some shared their experiences with CNBC.

Attacks on AWS data centers in the country caused outages in banking, payments, enterprise and consumer services last week.

“Living in Dubai right now is a strange mix of normality and quiet tension,” Glen Pawson, managing partner of marketing agency M3, who moved to the city in 2025, told CNBC.

“It’s surprisingly easy to get absorbed in the rhythm of day-to-day life and almost forget the wider situation,” he added.

“Then something reminds you. For us, it’s usually the phone alerts telling people to take shelter.”

Pawson said that, on a few occasions, he watched air defense countermeasures launch into the sky. “Seeing the flashes in the distance and, in some cases, the debris burning as it falls back to earth, is surreal.”

Despite that, he said, businesses are still operating, people are still socialising, and the general atmosphere is one of “cautious awareness” as opposed to “panic.”

“The reality on the ground is that life feels both completely normal and completely abnormal at the same time,” Pawson told CNBC. “You can go from a routine day to watching defence systems light up the sky in the space of a few minutes.”