CITI, STANDARD CHARTERED, AND GOLDMAN SACHS EVACUATE DUBAI AS IRAN DECLARES BANKS AND TECH GIANTS LEGITIMATE TARGETS

On Wednesday, March 12 (Manila time), three of the world's largest banks ordered employees out of Dubai. A fourth shut down all operations in Qatar. And Iran announced a new category of targets: not military bases, not missile silos, but banks and American technology companies.

Citigroup told staff to leave its regional headquarters in the Dubai International Financial Centre, according to an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times. The memo cited "increased security concerns" and advised employees to seek "the nearest secure location away from the office."

Standard Chartered sent its employees home as well, according to Reuters. Goldman Sachs issued a similar alert to staff at DIFC, according to The Hill.

In Qatar, HSBC suspended all branch operations until further notice, alerting clients through text messages, according to Reuters.

WHAT TRIGGERED IT

The evacuations followed a specific sequence of events.

On the night of March 11, US and Israeli strikes destroyed a building belonging to Bank Sepah in Tehran, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Several bank employees were killed.

A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, described by the United Nations as an IRGC-owned entity, then declared that the attack "left our hands open to targeting economic centres and banks belonging to the US and the Zionist regime in the region."

The spokesperson issued a public warning: "People of the region should not be within a one-kilometre radius of banks."

That single sentence sent shockwaves through the Gulf's financial centers.

TECH COMPANIES NAMED AS TARGETS

Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency published a list of 29 facilities belonging to American technology companies it designated as targets. The list included offices, data centers, and research facilities belonging to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir, according to Al Jazeera and The Register.

The facilities are spread across Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. Google's regional office in Dubai, Nvidia's R&D center in Haifa, Palantir's center in Abu Dhabi, and multiple Amazon data centers all appeared on the list.

Iran has already struck three Amazon Web Services data centers since the war began: one in Bahrain and two in the UAE, according to The Register.

DUBAI'S FINANCIAL DISTRICT

The Dubai International Financial Centre hosts more than 290 banks, 102 investment funds, 500 wealth management firms, and 1,289 family-related entities, according to Reuters. In recent years, hedge funds and private wealth operations have flocked to Dubai, drawn by zero income tax and proximity to Gulf capital.

HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery said on Monday that "confidence in the fundamentals and future of the GCC remains intact." By Wednesday, HSBC had shut down everything in Qatar.

AIRLINES PULLING OUT

Dutch airline KLM announced Wednesday that it has canceled all flights to Dubai until March 28, according to Reuters. The airline had already suspended operations to Riyadh, Dammam, and Tel Aviv since the war began on February 28.

650,000 FILIPINOS IN THE UAE

The UAE is home to an estimated 650,000 overseas Filipino workers, making it the second-largest Filipino community abroad, according to data from the Department of Migrant Workers.

Many of those workers are employed in the financial, hospitality, retail, and construction sectors concentrated in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, exactly the areas now being vacated by international firms.

DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said the department "will not stop providing assistance to every OFW in need." Two charter flights are being arranged: one from Riyadh and another from Fujairah in the UAE, targeted for departure on March 13, according to President Marcos.

As of last week, at least 1,189 Filipinos across nine Middle Eastern countries had formally requested repatriation.

THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION

On Wall Street, bank stocks dipped Wednesday. Wells Fargo fell 1.94 percent. Citigroup slid 0.40 percent, according to The Hill.

An IRGC spokesperson told Reuters that Iran is "ready for [oil] to be $200 a barrel because the price depends on regional security which you have destabilized."

When the IRGC tells people to stay one kilometer away from banks, that is not just a warning for bankers in suits. It is a warning for every security guard, janitor, driver, and cafeteria worker in those financial districts. In Dubai, a large share of those workers are Filipino.