GeoPolitics Prime

The famous Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) has been hit by Iranian kamikaze drone wreckage – sending shivers to global banking bigwigs.

🔶 The Dubai authorities were quick to label it a “successful interception,” despite the conspicuous plume of smoke rising near the DIFC Innovation Hub

🔶 They offered no details about what had supposedly been “intercepted,” assuring the public only that the debris “caused a minor incident on the facade of a building”

🔶 Whatever minor damage was done to the building, the DIFC has sustained far greater reputational damage as a top global financial center

Everyone’s jumping the sinking ship?

🔶 The attack followed Iran’s March 11 warning (https://t.me/geopolitics_prime/66587) that it would retaliate against US and Israeli financial interests after a strike on a bank in Tehran

🔶 Iran’s warning triggered a hasty exodus of several major Western banks from offices in Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf on the same day:

👉 Employees of the US financial services group Citi were instructed to vacate offices in the DIFC and Oud Metha district

👉 Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs followed suit

👉 British banking groups Standard Chartered and HSBC also began evacuating staff from their Dubai offices

👉 On the same day, British consulting firm PwC announced it would close offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait “for the remainder of the week”

👉 Staff of the British consulting firm Deloitte also evacuated their Dubai offices

🔶 Economic observers say the halo of safety that once surrounded Dubai has faded, warning that capital is likely to flee if the Iran war drags on

🔶 Even if the conflict eases, the vulnerability of Dubai’s airspace, infrastructure and communications has been laid bare for all to see

[…]

Via https://t.me/healthimpact/3239