Dubai financial hub hit by intercepted drone after Iran threatens banks

The Dubai International Financial Centre has been damaged after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone attack caused a fire in the area. 

Footage shared on social media on Friday morning showed a thick plume of smoke rising from the building in the financial zone of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. 

“Authorities confirm that debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the facade of a building in central Dubai,” the city’s media office said. “No injuries have been reported.”

Several banks and financial institutions in the area told their staff not to go into the office after Iran threatened to respond to US and Israeli strikes by targeting “banks and economic centres” in the Gulf. 

"Last night, the American and Zionist terrorist army, after failing in their military objectives, targeted one of the country's banks," a spokesperson for the Iranian military's central operational command, Khatam al-Anbiya, said on Wednesday.

"People in the region should not be within a one kilometre radius of the banks."

Hours earlier, air strikes had hit an administrative building linked to ⁠Bank Sepah, one of ​Iran's largest public banks, in the capital Tehran, killing an unspecified number of employees, according to the ​semi-official Mehr news agency.

Citi, the US financial services group, asked its Dubai employees to evacuate their offices on Wednesday "due to heightened security concerns". 

An Iranian strike on Dubai’s International Financial Centre, UAE https://t.co/3nW23k9EyM pic.twitter.com/EMA6UeABk1

— Basha باشا (@BashaReport) March 13, 2026

Employees were asked to evacuate Citi offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and in the Oud Metha neighbourhood, a source with knowledge of the evacuations told AFP.

PwC, a major British consulting group, also closed offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait for the remainder of the week as a “precaution”, another source told AFP.

Deloitte, another British consultancy, told its staff to vacate their DIFC offices. Employees at two other companies in the DIFC told AFP their offices had been evacuated as a precaution.

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In Qatar, all HSBC branches were closed until further notice to ensure the safety of staff and customers, a text message to customers read.

After Israel and the US began the war two weeks ago with major air strikes across Iran, Tehran responded by striking Israel and all the countries in the Gulf.

The UAE has been hit particularly hard, with more than 1,800 drones and missiles launched at it.

Several buildings have been damaged since the war began, including the Fairmont The Palm hotel in the Palm Jumeirah area, as well as the Burj Al Arab hotel.

Drones have also landed near Dubai International Airport. 

Six people have been killed in the UAE since the war began, including nationals from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. 

Iran has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy choke point through which around a fifth of global oil output passes, and a third of global liquefied natural gas.