After Strikes Reportedly Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, Here’s Why Tehran’s Drones Targeted Dubai’s Airport, Burj Al Arab Hotel

by Gary Leff

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have reportedly taken out Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Commander Mohammad Pakpour; and former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani among others. Top leaders were taken out by Israeli strikes in June 2025 as well.

Iran’s retaliation has included civilian targets in throughout the Mideast including Kuwait International Airport. In Dubai, they hit the Fairmont The Palm Hotel, the Burj Al Arab hotel, and the Dubai International Airport. They tried to hit the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

The Dubai airport sustained damage. Four staff members were injured. “Most of the terminals were previously cleared of passengers.”

Airspace is closed throughout the region. Flights have been cancelled; aircraft held at their origin. Here’s the message sent by Emirates operations to all of theri planes:

There is no military value to the Burj Al Arab or the Fairmont. People are now leaving Google Reviews of the Fairmont though.

Iran is expressly retaliating against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including in countries uninvolved in the attack.

  • They are lashing out
  • And they’re amoral
  • But they’re also plausibly being strategic.


Burj Al Arab

Iran’s intelligence service created a special “unit to target Mossad agents within Iran,” according to former Iranian President Ahmadinejad. However the unit was led by a Mossad operative, and staffed by Mossad agents. The infiltration was so deep that not only were they able to hit Khamenei, but Israeli agents were able to photograph his body before the country even announced his death.

They’ve been very vulnerable, much of their leadership is decapitated, and they’re not in a position to fight a war against the United States.

If you want to put the most logical gloss on abhorent actions like targeting civilian airports and hotels, it’s this: attacking Israel doesn’t get them anything. Israel’s defenses are good and civilians go to bunkers. What damage they do inflict isn’t going to weaken Israel’s resolve.

On the other hand, attacks on Dubai and Kuwait City are highly unusual. If they can create panic there, those countries might prevail upon the U.S. to end hostilities. Their best shot at preserving what remains of the status quo is to make things difficult enough for countries like the U.A.E., Kuwait and Bahrain, in hopes they can manage to bring things to an end now rather than moving towards regime change. Of course it might not have that effect, but it seems like Iran’s actual best strategy.


Burj Al Arab


Burj Al Arab

The U.S. action is obviously illegal and unconstitutional. The President himself calls it a war, and the constution gives Congress exclusive power to declare wars. Even executive branch memos acknowledge this, and set unreasonably permissive standards for what is allowed by a President short of war. But courts do not intervene in such matters. It’s also incredibly reckless and it’s difficult to predict the long-term outcome of such actions. I wouldn’t have pushed the button on these events.

I hope deeply for the best, and am not at all sad to see Iran’s dictator go. He slaughtered his own people, and the conditions in Iran for women are deplorable. Thoughts and prayers for Rashida Tlaib, and for the students and faculty of Columbia University.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Comments

  3. Better late than never. Carter should have done this after Iran took over our embassy and held hostages. Reagan, too, after Carter passed.

  4. More has been accomplished in long term security for the countries of the Middle East in the last 2 years than the past 50 combined. Iran attacking Dubai Kuwait and Qatar shows it is isolated even by other Muslim countries. What An amazing development towards a new Middle East

  5. Ah, gee Gary, thanks for censoring my earlier harmless commentt. Have you considered reviewing the references on your bio? At least one has has been implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Probably more than just one.. i just thought that perhaps you’d enjoy censoring some of those references since it appears you enjoy censoring comments.

  6. So, to you, the thousands and thousands of Iranians murdered and/or tortured just dont matter. Good to know.

  8. Before making ignorant TDS comments like “The U.S. action is obviously illegal and unconstitutional,” you would be well served to first read the War Powers Act of 1974–enacted by Congress–that reflects your ignorance.

    Stick to travel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *