# Dubai as Iran's window > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Dubai as Iran's window," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/dubai-as-irans-window/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's explanation of why Iran did not hit Dubai hard during the 2026 war: the city is full of Iranian businessmen and is Iran's outlet to the Western world and its principal means of evading sanctions.* - **Question put:** Would hitting Dubai hard benefit Iran? - **Kiriakou's answer:** "I think no" - **Reason:** "That's where Iran does its business" - **Function:** Iran's outlet to the Western world; the route by which it evades sanctions - **What was hit instead:** The Jebel Ali free port; hotels; the airports at Manama and Kuwait **Dubai as Iran's window** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s answer to a viewer who asked whether hitting Dubai hard would benefit Iran, given how much American interest was concentrated there during the 2026 war. Kiriakou's answer was negative and immediate. *"I think no and I'll tell you why because that's where Iran does its business."*[1] ## The function of the city The reason he gives is economic dependence rather than sentiment. *"Iran I mean Dubai is chock-full of Iranian businessmen and that's Iran's outlet to the western world. That's how Iran evades sanctions by having businesses in Dubai. So I think no. Hitting Dubai is not going to help Iran at all."*[1] On this account Dubai is not a target that Iran is restrained from hitting by fear of retaliation, but an asset Iran holds inside the opposing coalition — the place through which a sanctioned economy reaches the markets that sanction it.[1] ## What was hit anyway Kiriakou's own inventory of the damage Iran managed to inflict includes Dubai twice over. Iranian forces *"fired rockets at the Jebel Ali the the the free port in Dubai,"* damaged the airports at Manama and Kuwait, fired a rocket at the Saudi oil fields that was intercepted, and damaged a couple of hotels in Dubai.[2] His general assessment of that campaign is that it was slight. Asked whether Iran was causing damage anywhere, his answer was *"Not that I've seen"* — and *"there's some damage but absolutely nothing like what's being inflicted on Iran."*[2] The distinction he draws is between the hotels, struck to frighten tourists and empty the Gulf economies, and the city's commercial machinery, which Iran needs working. The strikes on [the Gulf hotels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-strikes-on-gulf-hotels) are, in his reading, calibrated to damage a neighbour's economy without severing Iran's own lifeline.[3] ## The wider judgement The restraint fits Kiriakou's overall reading of Iranian strategy in the war. Iran is not trying to win: *"all they have to do is survive."* An economy that has to outlast a bombing campaign cannot afford to destroy the one port through which it still trades.[2][4] ## See also - [Iranian strikes on Gulf hotels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-strikes-on-gulf-hotels) - [Why The Uae Was Targeted](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/why-the-uae-was-targeted) - [Strait of Hormuz](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/strait-of-hormuz) - [Iran under sanctions: daily life](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-under-sanctions-daily-life) ## Sources 1. John Kiriakou & Ted Rall's Live IRAN WAR Q&A / DeProgram Show (2026-03-01), at 03:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swDJSeo-Et0&t=186s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-john-kiriakou-ted-rall-s-live-iran-war-q-a-de/ 2. John Kiriakou & Ted Rall's Live IRAN WAR Q&A / DeProgram Show (2026-03-01), at 02:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swDJSeo-Et0&t=154s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-john-kiriakou-ted-rall-s-live-iran-war-q-a-de/ 3. Iran Escalation, Captured Spies: What Really Happens? And More I Going Deeper w/JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-03-03), at 04:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_p0sXfdMU&t=285s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-03-the-deep-focus-iran-escalation-captured-spies-what-really-happens/ 4. John Kiriakou & Ted Rall's Live IRAN WAR Q&A / DeProgram Show (2026-03-01), at 11:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swDJSeo-Et0&t=690s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-john-kiriakou-ted-rall-s-live-iran-war-q-a-de/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. 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