Ghost town Dubai: Empty sun loungers stretch to horizon as Iran holds the world to ransom, drones hit financial hub – and war sends airfares soaring

Dubai has been deserted by its army of influencers and thousands of expats with its sun loungers and pools lying empty as Iran continues to pound the United Arab Emirates.

Once a tax-free haven attracting social media stars and countless Brits seeking warm weather and crime-free streets, Dubai’s carefully crafted image has been shattered and some residents believe it is ‘finished’. 

Thousands have fled the war-torn city, vowing to never return as the Islamic Republic sends barrages of missiles and suicide drones at glitzy skyscrapers and glamorous five star hotels, even striking the world famous Fairmont hotel on Palm Jumeirah.

Bustling beaches and bars, usually occupied by British expats including Rio and Kate Ferdinand, Luisa Zissman and Petra Ecclestone, have been abandoned as the exodus from the emirate accelerates.

On Friday, as explosions rocked the city, with debris from Iranian drones damaging buildings in the heart of the financial district, Dubai was desolate.

The white sand Jumeirah Beach in the centre of Dubai, within sight of the famous Palm archipelago with its Atlantis resort, is a favourite among Dubai’s 240,000 Brits.

Usually overflowing with holiday-makers, it was empty amid reports facilities are closing because of a lack of visitors. 

Beach bars, sun loungers, swimming pools and the sandy coastline remained unspoiled as residents continue to reel from Iranian attacks.

In other dramatic developments:

• Israel has launched a new ‘wide-scale wave’ of strikes in Tehran including on a underground weapons facility
• Two people have been killed in Oman after drone strike as Saudi Arabia destroyed 28 drones in the latest attacks on the Gulf 
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have vowed a ‘stronger’ response if new protests erupt after tens of thousands were killed earlier this year 
• A new report claims Iran’s new Supreme Leader is unaware of the ongoing war in the Middle East and does not know he is the Islamic Republic’s new leader 
• French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to a French soldier killed in Iraq after a drone attack on an air base 

Row upon row of beach umbrellas stood folded up alongside hundreds of empty sunbeds. 

Tables were set, menus arranged, music blaring in the background, but there were hardly any customers.

The beach clubs and restaurants are not closed yet, but the worried faces of the migrant workers standing outside trying to beckon in the odd passer-by, tell their own story.

The low-paid workers from the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Far East are the lifeblood of Dubai’s economy, but their jobs in turn depend on a ready supply of wealthy tourists from Europe and the US.

One café manager from Pakistan told the Daily Mail: ‘I’ve never seen it like this before and everyone is worried what the future holds.

‘The spring break for schoolchildren starts today and there is hardly a western child to be seen anywhere – their parents have all taken them home.’

A local resident of Afghan-German nationality said: ‘The attacks are very frightening, but while I’ve got used to them, so many other people, especially families, decided to get out, just in case.

‘Normally on Friday, the traffic would be gridlocked and the restaurants and shops would be very busy, but the place is a ghost-town now.

‘I have heard from friends that at some of the big hotels and resorts, the bosses have told their staff that they have to take their paid leave now because there are hardly any guests now, so there’s nothing to do.

‘If they don’t have any leave left, will they be expected to live on nothing? Nearly all migrant staff have their visas tied to their jobs, so they’re put in a really difficult position.’ 

Dubai has been the target of two-thirds of the regime’s missiles – 1,700 projectiles in two weeks, although 90 per cent have been destroyed by air defences. 

Western banks have already evacuated employees amid threats from the Islamic Republic that they were the next targets of their bombing onslaught.

Dubai’s International Finance Centre was targeted this morning a day after a high-rise building was hit in a drone strike, causing a huge hole.

Thick black smoke rose over the skyline early this morning after what authorities described as a fire in an industrial area of the city-state. Dubai authorities later stated that only minor damage was caused with no injuries reported. 

And three massive explosions rocked the city on Wednesday morning, with the international airport sustaining damage. 

Four people were injured as two drones hit the terminal, while a string of major airlines cancelled all flights to the region for weeks. 

Iran’s attacks have targeted other US allies across the Gulf and their ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has seen oil prices and airfares spike worldwide amid fears of a global recession. 

The regime warned the world to prepare for oil to hit $200 a barrel, after it attacked three cargo ships in the strait.

Iran has all but cut off access to the waterway, a chokepoint in global trade that ordinarily sees around 20 per cent of all oil pass through daily.

Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s military command said in comments directed at the US and its allies: ‘Get ready for oil be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security which you have destabilised.’   

Iran also said it would make the Persian Gulf run with the ‘blood of invaders’ if the US and Israel continue their strikes.   

In Dubai, four people have been killed so far and tens of thousands of residents and tourists have now fled in the weeks since the conflict began.

And those who remain face prosecution if they post videos of missiles overhead, despite constant phone alerts warning them to stay away from windows and seek shelter. 

Dubai does not have vast oil reserves and relies on its expat population, which makes up 90 per cent of the city.

It has launched a desperate public relations campaign, telling people the ‘big booms’ in the sky are ‘the sound of us being safe’ as the UAE air defence system takes action.

 But it has done little to quell fears.

‘The shine has definitely been taken off,’ John Trudinger, a British Dubai resident of 16 years, told The Guardian.

The headteacher employs more than 100 teachers from the UK at his Emirati school and claims most are so ‘deeply traumatised and really struggling to cope’ with the war that they have fled and will never return.

Taxi driver Zain Anwar saw his car destroyed in a missile attack and said his family are begging him to return home to Pakistan.

He said: ‘I don’t want to be in Dubai any more, there is no business, we are earning nothing since this war, and I don’t see the tourism coming back.

‘A lot of taxi drivers like me, we are thinking to go to a different country now. Everybody knows that Dubai is finished.’

On Saturday, a drone was caught on video sending up a huge pall of smoke near the airport.  

The official Dubai Media Office continued to insist that ‘no incident’ had occurred at the airport as it clamps down on those sharing footage of damage.

Authorities in the UAE have charged 21 people with cyber crimes for circulating videos showing missiles and explosions.

This includes a Brit who filmed missiles passing overhead and immediately deleted the footage when asked.

The British embassy in the UAE said authorities ‘warn against photographing, posting, or sharing images of incident sites or projectile damage as well as government buildings and diplomatic missions,’ adding: ‘British nationals are subject to UAE laws, violations may lead to fines, imprisonment, or deportation’.

Content creators posting ‘misinformation’ face jail time and on Tuesday police said those posting anything which contradicts public announcements, ‘causing public panic’ could face two years behind bars and a fine of £40,000.

And Dubai’s influencer army has released a barrage of posts praising its government in suspiciously similar language – amid claims some are being paid to pump out ‘propaganda’.

Content creators with hundreds of thousands of followers between them have responded to Iranian attacks by sharing images of Dubai leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum alongside the words, ‘I know who protects us’.

The posts begin by asking ‘are you scared?’ before flashing up images of Al Maktoum waving to adoring crowds.

Sceptical social media users have responded by claiming the influencers are being paid by the UAE government, also several have spoken out to deny this.

Online content creators need a licence to operate in Dubai, and its government responded to the outbreak of war by threatening prison against anyone sharing information that ‘results in inciting panic among people’.

The tough stance is believed to have encouraged self-censorship by influencers in the Gulf state, with earlier clips of Iranian drone and missile attacks now swamped by posts lauding the regime.

In the first days of the conflict, the government cracked down on ‘citizen journalists’ reposting genuine footage of the first wave of attacks, which included a drone strike on the five-star Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah.

The Dubai Media Office responded within a few hours by claiming that ‘outdated images of past fire incidents’ in Dubai were being spread to stoke fear among the city’s residents.

Among the influencers, Kate Ferdinand previously opened up on relocating to the Middle East where she revealed she was ‘homesick and struggling’.

But she made a dramatic U-turn, boasting about how her kids are ‘learning things they wouldn’t in the UK’.

While Luisa Zissman shared a post mocking scared tourists who’ve escaped Dubai and are ‘making out they’ve come back from the frontlines’.

The Apprentice star, 38, relocated to the UAE from the UK in December, and has thrown her support behind the UAE government, even declaring it to be the ‘safest country in the world’ despite waves of suicide drone attacks.

But after dutifully echoing the official line that the war-hit emirate remains open for business, she has slipped back into Britain.

And Petra Ecclestone gushed about Dubai, describing how ‘grateful’ she was for ‘how much Dubai puts safety first — and how welcomed and safe it has made us feel’.

Meanwhile, British influencer Ben Moss admitted he is more worried about being fined or jailed for posting the ‘wrong’ content than he is of the lethal explosives themselves.

The content creator, from Wandsworth, said: ‘I do feel completely safe here because of the UAE air defences, but the laws can sometimes concern me so I always keep everything positive.

‘I’m far more scared of being fined or jailed for posting the wrong content than I am of the Iranian missiles and drones.’

On Friday the war raged with four crew members confirmed dead after an American refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq.

In a post on X, the US Central Command (Centcom) said that ‘four of the six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased.’

It comes after Centcom announced on Thursday that a KC-135 refuelling plane had gone down in ‘friendly airspace’ and a second aircraft involved in the incident landed safely. 

The identities of those killed will be withheld for 24 hours until next of kin can be notified, Centcom said, adding that rescue efforts are ongoing as two crew members remain missing.

It came after a major blaze appeared to have broken out at a French air base in Erbil, Iraq, following a drone attack.

A helicopter was apparently hit and at least six French soldiers were injured. President Emmanuel Macron confirmed early this morning that one had died.