Much has been said about the political, economic and military fallout from the US and Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent aggressions against its neighbours. But behind the speeches, statistics and statements lies a deeper reality – each death in this conflict right across the region is a human tragedy.
The UAE’s military has kept the country secure from drones and missiles. In war, however, there is no such thing as guaranteed safety, despite impressively strong defences. That harsh truth has been borne out in the fact that, despite intercepting more than 90 per cent of Iranian attacks, four civilians have been killed and more than 120 injured in the Emirates during the past two weeks. In addition, the UAE Ministry of defence announced that “two members of Armed Forces have been martyred”, a source of deep sorrow for the whole community.
Each loss is more than an individual’s life cut short; it also affects entire families and communities. Murib Zaman Nizar, a Pakistani 44-year-old father of five, was killed on February 28 in Abu Dhabi, the first day of the Iranian assault. Like so many residents of the UAE, he came to the Emirates to work and build a better life for his family. Murib’s nephew, Dr Shahzeb Khan, told The National how his uncle was a family man who quietly shouldered the responsibility of a large household.
Dibas Shrestha, a 29-year-old Nepali citizen, died on March 1 – a day after Murib. Like the Pakistani driver, Dibas was someone who came to the Emirates for work. The young engineering graduate was on night duty as a security guard at Zayed International Airport when he was caught up in a drone attack. He had been planning to return to Nepal on holiday where his family was excited to plan his wedding.
As with the Houthis’ attack on Abu Dhabi in 2022, the main victims of these unjustified assaults are those who came to the Emirates to avail of the opportunities the country has to offer. That reality lays bare the hollowness of Tehran’s claims that it has no fight with its Gulf neighbours and is merely responding to imperialist aggressors.
In Iran itself, where an internet blackout has left citizens offline for a third of 2026, it is ordinary Iranians who have borne the brunt of US and Israeli bombardments. This was most chillingly borne out by the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, which is thought to have killed nearly 170 people, many of them children. A Republican senator in the US has already apologised for what he called a “horrible, horrible mistake” by America’s military.
In Lebanon too, it is civilians who are paying the price for decisions made by reckless politicians and militia leaders. There at least eight were killed this week in an Israeli attack on Beirut beachfront where displaced families were sleeping in tents.
In each case, families are losing breadwinners, societies are losing teachers and doctors and in the case of attacks on schools in Iran and Lebanon, communities are losing their next generation. Amid international calls for an immediate end to the conflict and a new UN Security Council resolution condemning Iran’s attack on the Gulf countries, from Washington and Tel Aviv to Tehran and Sanaa, others continue to indulge in warlike rhetoric.
Warmongers will not be moved by the human stories of those in their sights, but each death should act as a spur to the international community to redouble efforts to bring this war to a halt.
