Iran has put Gulf hotels on notice, warning that any property accommodating United States military personnel will be treated as a legitimate military target, a stark escalation that pushes civilian infrastructure into the centre of an already volatile regional conflict.
Iran issued “decisive” warnings to hotel owners in regional countries, especially Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to refrain from accepting US military personnel, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Thursday, citing Xinhua.
The threat follows reports that many American troops relocated to hotels and office buildings in Gulf states after the bases where they were stationed were attacked by Iran and effectively rendered unusable, according to the New York Times, citing US officials and military personnel.
As a result of the strikes, a large portion of US forces in the region are now taking part in the war effort remotely rather than operating from their original bases, with exceptions including fighter pilots and aircraft maintenance crews.
The report also claimed US personnel have established a presence at civilian sites across the region, including a logistics base near Beirut’s old airport and advisory operations at Damascus’ Republic Palace, the Four Seasons, and Sheraton hotels. US Marines were reportedly moved this week to Djibouti International Airport via Istanbul and Sofia.
Iranian armed forces spokesperson General Abolfazl Shekarchi made the position plain in remarks carried on state television. “When all the Americans go into a hotel, then from our perspective that hotel becomes American,” he said, adding that Iran would strike wherever US forces are located.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi escalated the warning further on Thursday via a post on X, accusing US soldiers of using people in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as “human shields” by fleeing military bases to hide in hotels and offices, and calling on hotels in the region to deny them bookings.
Fars also warned that Iran’s warning to hotel owners is “comprehensive and final,” and that any centre hosting foreign military personnel, regardless of geographic location, will be designated a legitimate defense target if the practice does not stop.
The latest warning comes against the backdrop of an intensified conflict that escalated sharply on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched joint strikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and US bases in the region, and moved to tighten control over the Strait of Hormuz, blocking vessels linked to Israel and the United States.
Nearly 40,000 American troops were in the region at the start of the war. US Central Command has since moved some forces out of the Middle East, as far away as Europe, while others remain in the region but away from their original bases, a situation senior military officials say has made the war considerably more difficult to manage.
