Dubai And Abu Dhabi Could Become War Targets If UAE Joins US-Iran War, Warns Economist Jeffrey Sachs

US economist Jeffrey Sachs has issued a stark warning to the UAE, saying the Gulf nation is making a serious strategic error by aligning itself with the United States and Israel in the ongoing conflict with Iran and that its crown jewels, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, could pay the price.

Speaking to ANI, Sachs said both cities, known globally as luxury tourism and financial hubs, are wholly unprepared for the consequences of military entanglement.

“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,” he said.

The warning comes after the Financial Times reported that the UAE has informed its allies, including the US, of its willingness to participate in a multinational maritime task force aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz part of a broader coalition push to secure safe passage through the critical Gulf waterway.

Sachs described the UAE’s posture as an “absurd mess entered with eyes open,” and criticised what he called a pattern of doubling down on a failing strategy. He also took aim at the Abraham Accords, calling the Gulf countries’ decision to sign the US-brokered normalisation agreements a “fundamental miscalculation.”

His advice to the UAE was blunt: prioritise self-protection over dependence on Washington for security guarantees.

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“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,” Sachs said.

Iran, for its part, has repeatedly warned West Asian nations against permitting the US to operate military bases on their soil for strikes against Tehran. Iranian officials have made clear that any country hosting such facilities could face direct consequences if those bases are used in offensive operations against Iran.