Qatar’s safe streets are a large draw for foreign workers, who like free tax income and the sweet winter gulf weather. But Monday evening, a volley of Iranian missiles heading towards an American military base broke out this comfortable bubble.
The sound of explosions – trembling windows and the activation of emergency sirens – triggered panic in the Doha Villaggio plush shopping center. The cries filled the cavernous room and bolted buyers for outings. Video sequences have shown an in -house abandoned black shoe. On the other side of the city usually quiet, the parents comforted the children frightened by the explosions.
Among the millions of mobile expatriates who fuel the economies of the region rich in oil and represent about half of the Gulf population, Iran’s attack on Qatar has aroused questions about security in countries long considered as oases of prosperity and security in a troubled region.
The region’s foreign workforce goes from well-paid finance and energy leaders to the Blue passes mainly from South Asia, who build the infrastructure of the countries and maintain them.
Many foreign workers are phlegmatic. Some are tested in combat by previous attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels aligned by Iran and other attorney on energy infrastructure in 2019 and 2022, which struck Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, or by the regional boycott of Qatar during the first mandate of Donald Trump.
But the Gulf population has swelled in recent years. For many newcomers, this is their first experience of a war in the Middle East – even indirectly.
“The reaction depends on the duration of the region,” said a water -based banker. “Some of the most recent, even in Dubai, were like” Oh my God, that’s not what I registered “.
Since Israel attacked Iran less than two weeks ago, the Gulf monarchies have pushed the end of hostilities and returning to talks. They hoped to avoid a wider regional escalation and avoid being taken in the cross -fires following the many American military facilities in the Gulf States.
Iran’s strikes targeting the largest military base in the United States in the region on Monday came in retaliation for American attacks against its nuclear infrastructure.
Later in the day, Trump announced that Iran and Israel had accepted a ceasefire, although it seemed to be trembling Tuesday morning after Israel said that Tehran had launched new missiles and threatened to respond.
The Iranian missiles that torn the Qatar sky had been mainly intercepted by the air defenses, making no victim.
But if it was a demonstration of military theaters, “I prefer the safe of £ 200, inaccessible to medium-sized people, of the type of London theater,” joked a resident of the Expatriate Doha on Monday evening.
The atmosphere on Tuesday morning was “tense but relieved,” a Canadian Palestinian-British-British expatriate in Doha said. During the attack, he said that his reaction was “WTF” but in the morning he felt safe, satisfied with the way the government had maintained services such as Internet and electricity.
On social networks, some residents have called insignificant night events compared to Israeli bombings that flattened Gaza.
But a senior British expatriate based in Doha for two decades said that his peers were “quite shocked”.
“Fortunately, the American base is outside the city,” he added. “However, not very pleasant to cross, and future uncertainty is undoubtedly in the mind of everyone.”
Several organizations have sent emails telling staff that Tuesday would be a normal working day, and the senior expatriate expected that most of the employees arise.
In Dubai, the second largest city in the region after Riyadh, some expatriates had already planned terrestrial escape roads to Oman. In a company, the employees on a security call asked for plans to evacuate, but were postponed.
WhatsApp groups burst out expatriates calling into question the safety of staying in the region during the unpredictable era of Trump, and some expatriates even nicknamed the flights to Europe through the Gulf by sailing on “Missiles”.
But many foreigners were optimistic, with their main concern the disruption of aviation and its potential to delay or derail summer holiday plans.
“There is a certain level of panic among residents given the summer holidays,” said a business investigator based in Dubai.
“The main risk remains the disruptions of plane trips,” said Nigel Lea, independent consultant at risk. “Many companies restrict trips in the Middle East, but once again due to the cost and disadvantages of delays, and people who remain stuck.”
Phil Miles, Associate Managing Director for the management of corporate security risks at the Kroll Advisor, said that some customers had already “postponed non -essential trips to the region and offer staff increased flexibility to work at home”.
Some professionals said they felt confident that the Gulf would suffer little or no economic impact.
“There was no disruption of energy flows, and the ceasefire was announced so quickly-all this is positive,” said Monica Malik, chief economist of the commercial bank of Abu Dhabi. “We are also in the travel and tourism period quieter for the region. We therefore make no change in non -oil forecasting. ”
For an economist based in Dubai, “the Saudi economic slowdown is more important in the Gulf than all the drama of the last days”.
But not everyone is convinced. Gaffour, a limousine driver in Doha, saw business dropping since the World Cup in 2022, and fears an additional economic decline due to increasing geopolitical tensions.
“There is still no business,” he said. “All my friends are worried.”
