Drone debris from Iranian interceptions strikes buildings across Dubai

Yesterday 12:40

By: Dakir Madiha

Drone debris from Iranian interceptions strikes buildings across Dubai

Debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck the facade of Oracle's building at Dubai Internet City early Saturday morning as the Gulf conflict entered its fifth week with no sign of abatement. Dubai's Media Office confirmed the incident in a post on X, describing it as a "minor incident" and stating that no injuries had been reported.

A separate incident occurred in the Dubai Marina area, where debris from another aerial interception fell on the facade of a building. Authorities confirmed no fire or casualties resulted from that event, according to Dubai's Media Office. The incidents came hours after a more serious strike in Abu Dhabi, where an Egyptian national was killed and four people sustained minor injuries after debris from an intercepted attack fell on the Habshan gas facilities, the emirate's largest natural gas processing site.

The debris strikes followed several days of escalating Iranian threats against U.S. technology companies operating in the Gulf. Earlier in the week, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have targeted an Oracle data center in Dubai and an Amazon cloud computing facility in Bahrain. Dubai authorities flatly denied the claim regarding the Oracle data center, with Dubai's Government Media Office calling it "fake news" on X. Bahrain, by contrast, confirmed a fire at a corporate facility following what it described as an Iranian attack.

The IRGC warned employees of U.S. technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple, to evacuate their workplaces, stating that those firms would be targeted in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran.

Since Iran launched retaliatory strikes on February 28 following the coordinated U.S.-Israeli attacks, the United Arab Emirates has intercepted 475 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles, and 2,085 drones, according to figures cited by Gulf News as of April 3. The attacks have killed 12 people in the UAE and wounded more than 190. On Friday, two U.S. aircraft were shot down in the course of the fighting, according to NPR, as the conflict showed no sign of de-escalation.