A plume of smoke rises from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi.
Photo: AFP / RYAN LIM
A New Zealander living very near a military base in the Middle East which is critical to the US says he feels safe enough for the moment – but his family has an overland evacuation plan just in case.
The US State Department today issued a “depart now” warning to Americans living in more than a dozen locations in the Middle East.
A number of Arab states that host strategic American assets have been targeted by Iran in the wake of the US-Israel lead attack against the Islamic republic.
Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have all been hit.
Just outside the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi is a military base that hosts US troops that has reportedly been a target of retaliatory strikes.
Jordon Buchanan, his wife and two young children moved to Abu Dhabi about 10 months ago to expand his construction recruitment business, and now find themselves in a conflict zone.
Buchanan told Checkpoint that the family was woken up about 2.30am this morning by some loud shockwaves, but the defence system in the area was very good.
“It’s a little bit hairy, being out of your control. But so far, so good, they seem to be intercepting everything, pretty much.”
He said the blasts started on Saturday, but Monday was fairly quiet.
“We heard one sound in the morning, but then nothing, and people were going about their business. The government has basically said ‘continue on as normal’, the public and private sector have been told to stay at home and work for the next three days.”
He said while it currently felt very safe, there is a contingency plan to drive to Oman – about two hours away – if they need to get out of the region.
“There is a big group of New Zealanders and Australians that live in our local community and we’re just going to go in a big convoy together if things start to get more hairy, but for now, no-one I know has actually left the country or tried to escape.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.