Could America's unprovoked and unjustifiable attack on Iran have damaging, long-term affects on the DP World Tour?

Dubai has long been a safe haven away from the tinder box of Iraq, Iran and other countries in the Middle East, and a tourism mecca and global transport hub. The emirate has a population of 6,359,527, of which 3.2million are non-Emirati, with nearly a quarter of a million British nationals living there and as many as 50,000 American civilians also calling it home. Dubai welcomed more than 17.2million overnight international tourists in 2023 and this number was increasing by around 6% year on year, and its main airport, Dubai International Airport had more than 92million passengers in 2024.

For golf though Dubai's impact, legacy and importance cannot be overstated, and for Dubai the importance of golf is also existential to its global reputation and tourism industry. The European Tour has played in Dubai since 1989, and since 2009 the city has been home to its season-ending tournament, the DP World Tour Championship, and home to its headquarters outside of Europe at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Since 2023 the relationship between Dubai and European Tour has become even more important, with DP World entering into a multi-year multi billion dollar deal to become title sponsor of the tour, creating the DP World Tour.

The golf industry is said to be worth more than $200million per year to Dubai, and Dubai attracts more than 20,000 golf tourists every year, with golfers spending more than 88,000 all-inclusive golf resort stays in Dubai. Golf has made people around the world aware of Dubai and it has played a huge part in furnishing the image of Dubai on the world stage.

Dubai's Fairmont Hotel was impacted over the weekend

But over the weekend, Dubai's reputation as a save haven in the Middle East was shattered, potentially forever.

The United States of America and Israel, led by the deplorable wannabe dictator Donald Trump, and the extreme conservative Benjamin Netanyahu, unleashed Operation Epic Fury on Iran, with the goal of destroying the Iranian dictatorship, administration and military. United States Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth justified America's attack. Hegseth said the operation had a “clear, devastating, decisive mission” to “destroy the missile threat” from Iran, destroy its navy and “no nukes.”

“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives,” Hegseth said. Iran has long harboured hopes of creating a nuclear weapon, but under the terms of the deal struck by former President Barack Obama, this had been stopped. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions. Under the leadership of the Narcissist in Chief, the USA withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, and now, in his second term he has taken the United States into an uncertain and dangerous war to destroy the Iranian leadership and military.

Many nations in the Middle East are allies with the USA, including the United Arab Emirates, and the UAE and others have said prior to the conflict “Iran’s power and ambition across the region is diminished, and the prospect of an Iran-centric order has receded,”

“For Middle Eastern leaders, the threats have changed: the greatest risks are now an expansionist and aggressive Israel, and the chaos of a potentially collapsed Iranian state.” Responsible Statecraft

The attack has killed Iran's Supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei and many members of the leadership and military, with 48 of the leadership killed, 9 warships sunk, 555 people killed including 150 civilians in a strike on a school.

Iran, obviously, was always going to retaliate, and they are now striking US allies in the region including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are hosts to significant professional golf tournaments across the region. Saudi Arabia has just hosted LIV Golf Riyadh and the PIF Saudi Ladies International, Qatar staged the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Bahrain held the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, and of course, Dubai staged the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Invitational.

Later this year the UAE will host the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship, but it is clear that if the unjustified attacks on Iran could lead to even worse consequences over the coming days, weeks and months.

Explosions rocked Dubai's Palm Jumeirah man-made island, and drone debris caused a fire at the Burj Al Arab ultra-luxury hotel as waves of Iranian missiles targeted the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, February 28, authorities said. Le Monde

Dubai airport, the world's busiest for international traffic, and Jebel Ali seaport also suffered damage as the unprecedented attacks hit some of the city's major landmarks and revenue-earners.

Two witnesses on the Palm – an upscale, palm tree-shaped residential and leisure development – heard an explosion and saw smoke rising from a five-star hotel. The Dubai media office confirmed that an "incident" at a building on the Palm Jumeirah caused a fire and injured four people. Hours later, a second blast exploded close to the same building, after what looked like a drone plunged from above, another witness saw.

The UAE said 137 missiles and 209 drones were fired at its territory by Iran, most of them intercepted by defense systems. Le Monde

Google Maps shows how close Iran is to Dubai, and the wider region ©Google/2026 Landsat/Copernicus

Currently there are many golf tourists in Dubai trapped, unable to leave Dubai because the airspace in the region is closed due to Iran's reaction to the attack by the United States of America and Israel. If Dubai is no longer seen as a save haven there has to be a genuine chance that its golf tourism industry will collapse, and what if the players on the DP World Tour do not feel safe enough to participate in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and DP World Tour Championship?

The future is uncertain, but there is surely no doubt if the consequences of this deplorable action in Iran results in an unsafe Dubai, then Dubai's future as a power within the sport is unstable at best. In the short term it is entirely possible that this conflict will impact golf and the sports world in the region, with the Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in F1, the Turkish Airlines Open, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship taking place within the next 8 months.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper