In a stunning verbal broadside, influential UAE billionaire Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor has publicly confronted President Trump over the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Al Habtoor’s demand for “authority” and “permission” highlights a growing anxiety among the Gulf’s business elite as Operation Epic Fury transforms the region into an active war zone.
This public rebuke comes at a critical juncture, following the systematic “decapitation” of Iran’s leadership, including the deaths of Security Chief Ali Larijani and Basij Commander Gholamreza Soleimani. While some Gulf officials previously urged the U.S. to “neutralize Iran for good,” Al Habtoor’s comments signal a deep fear that the kinetic “cleanup” is spiraling into a permanent regional disaster.
The timing is particularly sensitive as the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint for global energy, and the “petrodollar” faces its greatest challenge from the emerging petroyuan. With the U.S. moving toward a potential ground invasion and declaring it has no need for NATO assistance, the private sector in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is bracing for a total economic and security collapse.
Al Habtoor’s defiance aligns with the skepticism of other international voices, including the recently resigned NCTC Director Joe Kent, who claimed the war was manufactured under foreign pressure. As the hunt for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei continues, the “America First” administration is finding that even its wealthiest regional partners are questioning the endgame of a “Trump-style peace.”
The focus now turns to whether this high-profile dissent will force the White House to reconsider its unilateral trajectory or if the “unrestrained” military campaign will continue regardless of the cost to regional stability. For billionaires like Al Habtoor, the price of “neutralizing” Iran may be the very prosperity they have spent decades building.