Dubai woke up to a tense Saturday morning after a suspected Iranian drone strike hit near Dubai International Airport, briefly disrupting operations at the world’s busiest aviation hub and sending passengers scrambling for safety.
Dramatic visuals circulating online showed a drone striking the airport area, followed by a massive plume of smoke rising into the sky. Witnesses inside the airport reported panic as alarms sounded, forcing passengers waiting for flights to rush into underground train tunnels within the airfield complex, according to reports.
Flight operations at the airport were temporarily halted after the strike. Airline giant Emirates announced that all flights to and from Dubai had been suspended “until further notice,” though services resumed shortly afterward.
The attack came amid escalating regional tensions as Iran continued launching strikes toward Gulf states during its ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel.
Residents across Dubai reported hearing multiple explosions Saturday morning. Authorities confirmed that air defence systems had been activated to intercept incoming threats.
Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been repeatedly targeted since the conflict escalated last week. While many missiles and drones have been intercepted, falling debris has occasionally caused smoke and minor fires. Just a day earlier, officials described a similar incident as “minor” after debris from an interception fell in the city.
Hours after the latest explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the nation on television, announcing that Iran would temporarily pause strikes on neighbouring Gulf countries—provided that attacks on Iran do not originate from those nations.
He also issued an apology to Gulf states, stressing that Iran has “no intention of invading other countries,” even as military pressure from the United States and Israel continues to intensify.
For now, Dubai’s airport has resumed operations—but the strike has raised fresh concerns about how far the conflict could spread across the Gulf.
