# Iranian strikes on Gulf hotels > **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: "Iranian strikes on Gulf hotels," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-strikes-on-gulf-hotels/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's reading of the Iranian drone and missile attacks on hotels in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat during the 2026 war: not targeted killings, but deliberate strikes at the tourist economies of the Gulf states, aimed at hotels famous enough to empty the country of visitors.* - **Cities named:** Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat - **Hotels named:** The Burj Al Arab; the Jumeirah Towers hotel - **Kiriakou's connection:** Staying at the Jumeirah Towers a week before the broadcast - **Purpose in his reading:** Economic damage, not targeted killing **Iranian strikes on Gulf hotels** were among the most visible features of the 2026 war, and [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) was asked directly whether they were targeted attacks on individuals driven by actionable intelligence. His answer was that they were not, and that the choice of targets was economic. ## What was hit Kiriakou confirms the pattern of attack: the Iranians *"are indeed hitting hotels with drones and missiles, especially in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,"* and *"they hit a hotel in Muscat a couple of days ago."*[1] He frames the campaign as a matter of doing the best that is available. *"They're doing this because it's the best they can do,"* he says — a judgement that follows from his separate and low estimate of [Iranian intelligence capability](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-intelligence-capability).[1][2] ## Why hotels rather than bases The reasoning Kiriakou sets out turns on the asymmetry between military and civilian targets in the Gulf. *"It's one thing if you fire a rocket or send drones to attack an American, you know, military installation in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Nobody's going to really care."*[1] The hotels are different because they are famous. *"But if you hit the the Burj Al Arab, the the big hotel that's in the shape of a sail, or you hit the Jumeirah Towers Hotel, where I was staying a week ago, by the way, um you're going to affect the economy."* The effect he identifies is not the damage itself but the departures that follow: *"you're going to make people staying in those hotels leave the country."*[3] ## The conclusion Kiriakou's conclusion is stated flatly and rules out the premise of the question put to him. *"So, that's the plan. These are not targeted attacks against individuals. They're random attacks just trying to do as much damage as possible."*[3] The same reading recurs elsewhere in his commentary on the war, where he lists strikes on the Jebel Ali free port in Dubai and on the civilian airports at Manama and Kuwait among the damage Iran had actually managed to inflict — and where he treats [the bombing of Oman](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bombing-the-omanis), a state that had been trying to broker peace, as the clearest case of a strike that cost Iran more than it gained.[4] ## See also - [Iranian intelligence capability](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-intelligence-capability) - [Bombing The Omanis](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bombing-the-omanis) - [Why The Uae Was Targeted](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/why-the-uae-was-targeted) - [Israeli strike on Qatar](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israeli-strike-on-qatar) ## Sources 1. Iran Escalation, Captured Spies: What Really Happens? And More I Going Deeper w/JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-03-03), at 04:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_p0sXfdMU&t=253s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-03-the-deep-focus-iran-escalation-captured-spies-what-really-happens/ 2. Iran Escalation, Captured Spies: What Really Happens? And More I Going Deeper w/JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-03-03), at 03:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_p0sXfdMU&t=223s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-03-the-deep-focus-iran-escalation-captured-spies-what-really-happens/ 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. Ted Rall & John Kiriakou Iran War Viewer Q&A / DeProgram Show (2026-03-04), at 10:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNGeaQ5ZA28&t=658s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-ted-rall-john-kiriakou-iran-war-viewer-q-a-de/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-strikes-on-gulf-hotels/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt