”Who gave you authority to drag our region into war’, UAE billionaire queries Trump
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, a prominent UAE businessman, has questioned Donald Trump’s mental state for going into war with Iran and dragging Gulf States into it.
“Who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war with #Iran? And on what basis did you make this dangerous decision?” Habtoor wrote in an open letter to Trump on X.
“Did you calculate the collateral damage before pulling the trigger? And did you consider that the first to suffer from this escalation will be the countries of the region itself!
“The peoples of this region have the right to ask as well: Was this your decision alone? Or did it come as a result of pressures from #Netanyahu and his government?”
The Emirati founder and chairman of the Al Habtoor Group that deals with hospitality, automotive, car leasing, real estate, education, and publishing sectors accused Trump of placing the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries “at the heart of a danger they did not choose.”
“You (Trump) have placed the countries of the #GulfCooperationCouncil and the Arab countries at the heart of a danger they did not choose. Thank God, we are strong and capable of defending ourselves, and we have armies and defences that protect our homelands, but the question remains: Who gave you permission to turn our region into a battlefield?” Habtoor asked Trump.
Rare public display of dissent
Neither Trump nor the White House have reacted to the open letter. Also, UAE has not officially endorsed it either.
The correspondence is a rare public display of dissent in the UAE but reflects the growing unease in the region, which is bearing the maximum brunt of the US-Israel war on Iran that is now in its eighth day.
Last week, the US and Israel jointly launched attacks on Iran, targeting both military and civilian facilities. In response, Iran carried out attacks on Israel, and US bases and businesses in Gulf countries allied to the US.
The human toll in the first five days of Operation Epic Fury launched by US is stark. Estimates indicate over 2,400 deaths in Iran, including at least 181 children. Tehran says US-Israel strikes during the initial hours of the war targeted all-girls Minab Primary School, which resulted in the killings of over 165 girls and school staff.
The US says its military losses so far include six soldiers, but Iran says it has killed over 500 American soldiers.
According to a US-based conflict monitoring project, Tehran has launched far more drones and missiles at Gulf countries than at Israel since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.
A report by the Critical Threats Project, which is part of the American Enterprise Institute, Iran has so far launched 255 drones and missiles at Israel and fired up to 2,171 drones and missiles towards Gulf states, mostly on UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
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