The United Arab Emirates has banned its citizens from travelling to Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq citing deteriorating regional developments.
In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry further urged Emiratis currently in those countries to leave immediately and return home as a matter of urgency, reports Al Jazeera.
Analysts say this development could indicate a potential resurgence of hostility in the Middle East. The travel ban comes as a conditional ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan on 8 April, remains in a state of high-stakes volatility.
Although US President Donald Trump extended the truce indefinitely on 22 April to allow for further proposals, he warned that the US military is “raring to go” and that bombing could resume shortly if negotiations fail.
High-level diplomatic efforts, known as the Islamabad Talks, collapsed on 11 April after 21 hours of discussion between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf failed to produce a deal.
The decapitation strike
The regional conflagration was ignited on 28 February 2026, when the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, which was codenamed Operation Roaring Lion by Israel.
The campaign began with nearly 900 strikes within 12 hours, utilizing strategic deception to bypass Iranian air defences.
The primary objective was a “decapitation strike” against the Iranian leadership. High-resolution tracking by the CIA located Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at his residence in Tehran, where he was killed by a “Blue Sparrow” ballistic missile strike.
The attack also claimed the lives of several family members, including his daughter and granddaughter, as well as senior officials such as the architect of Iran’s defence strategy, Ali Shamkhani, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guard, General Mohammad Pakpour.
Retaliation and regional contagion
Iran responded within hours with Operation True Promise IV, launching hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel and US military installations across the Persian Gulf.
Major targets included Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and the US Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. In Abu Dhabi, shrapnel from an Iranian missile killed one person, while debris caused fires at Dubai’s main port.
The conflict rapidly expanded into a multi-front war.
Hezbollah entered the fray on 2 March, citing the assassination of Khamenei as a declaration of war, leading to a massive Israeli air campaign and a ground incursion in southern Lebanon that has displaced over 1.2 million people. By late March, the Houthi movement in Yemen also joined, launching missiles at southern Israel.
Global economic paralysis
Tehran’s most potent response was the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on 4 March. This triggered the largest oil supply shock on record, with global supplies dropping by nearly 20 million barrels per day. Brent crude prices surged to a peak of $126 per barrel by 30 April.
The crisis has caused severe fuel shortages worldwide, particularly in Asia. In Bangladesh, authorities were forced to close universities early and mandate that all shopping centres shut by 8:00 pm to conserve energy.
Succession and the dual blockade
On 8 March, Mojtaba Khamenei was designated as the new Supreme Leader. However, intelligence reports suggest he was severely wounded in the initial strikes and remains incapacitated in a medical facility in Qom, creating a power vacuum.
IRGC Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi has since emerged as the de facto military authority.
Following the failure of the Islamabad negotiations, US President Trump announced a US naval blockade of all Iranian ports effective 13 April.
The region is now gripped by a “dual blockade”: the US Navy is preventing ships from reaching Iran, while the IRGC maintains its own restrictions and mine-laying operations in the Persian Gulf. Analysts warn that Iran’s onshore oil storage is nearing capacity, which may force a terminal shutdown of its oil fields within weeks.
