Visit to the future of the third Gulf War

Special correspondent to Dubai (United Arab Emirates)The day after the night when an entire civilization was to be annihilated, a robot-man and a robot-dog were doing somersaults in Dubai. Tourists were photographing them as they waited to enter the future. The future has been very dizzying these days in the Gulf countries. The uncertain future of the Gulf is still dizzying.

The civilization that was to die was not this one. It was that of the other side of the sea, the Persian one, the 93 million people who live in Iran. “An entire civilization will die tonight, without any possibility of recovery”, Donald Trump had said.

you have to queue to enter Dubai's main attractions. In wartime conditions, entry is immediate.

“Is outer space Trump-proof?”, a Polish tourist asked. The guide ignored the comment. The group of tourists was very small. Calculators like the one from the World Travel & Tourism Council have stated that the bombs have caused a loss of about 515 million euros per day to the Gulf economies. In peacetime conditions, you have to queue to enter Dubai's main attractions. In wartime conditions, entry is immediate.

It was difficult yesterday to interpret the future. The world's capitals celebrated the pact, because, effectively, it has avoided an infernal escalation. But the pact showed cracks, and soon it seemed fragile: traffic in Hormuz was minimal and Tehran decided to interrupt it in the afternoon; Israel was lashing out at Lebanon, dropping 160 bombs in ten minutes; Tehran continued to bomb the Gulf monarchies. Arab capitals fear that, like Beirut, they have been left out of the temporary ceasefire agreement. Arab capitals must not be very happy with Washington: they insisted until the last minute for the White House, their ally, not to start the war against Iran and now they might feel abandoned in the face of an emboldened Tehran.

"Sir, you can ask him any question and he will answer it," another worker at the Museum of the Future in Dubai told me.

I had to ask a talking robot the question. The android was the main attraction of a hall that simulated what the cities of tomorrow will be like: flying taxis, driverless cars, and clothes that adapt to the outside temperature. In a video, the Dubai of the future was projected. The sky was full of drones delivering groceries to your home. Other drones, the Iranian ones, the war drones, have already patrolled the sky of the city of luxury. During these five weeks of war, they have even flown over the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world and a symbol of the Emirates.

The worker insisted that I ask the robot a question.

–According to the press, who has won with the ceasefire in Iran?

–I'm sorry, I don't have access to live information. I cannot answer this question.

–Who is Donald Trump?

–Donald Trump is a businessman, a television personality, and was the 45th president of the United States.

The future is outdated.

Dalí and Picasso in Tehran

Hours before the ultimatum, the Gulf governments harbored a great fear: that Trump's hell over Tehran would become the ayatollahs' hell over their cities. Since February 28, Iran has bombed the petromonarchies daily in an attempt to add more international pressure on the White House. More than the bombs – the vast majority intercepted by defense systems that have surprised the world – the region's concern is the survival of its slogan the region's concern is the survival of its slogan: oases of peace and stability, guarantors of economic prosperity. The day dawned with relief, but yesterday's wave of bombings, with the temporary ceasefire already in effect, disconcerted the Persian capitals.

The Emirati monarchy's first reaction to the truce was positive. “We have triumphed in a war we honestly wanted to avoid. We have prevailed thanks to an epic national defense that has safeguarded sovereignty and dignity in the face of treacherous aggression.” The war has increased national pride.

Hours later, the UAE Ministry of Defense reported Tehran's “flagrant” offensive with the launch of 17 missiles and 35 drones. In total, the ayatollahs have launched 560 missiles and 2,256 drones against Emirati territory since the war began, an average of 72 projectiles per day. It is not clear whythe UAE has become the most attacked country in the region.

The scene last night in the luminous heart of Dubai was identical to the night before, hours before the ultimatum expired: streets, shopping centers, and restaurants quite full. Some skyscrapers rewarded passersby with colorful laser shows. The population coexists with total normality with the war, which is barely heard, barely seen. Most people prefer not to talk about the war.

The Museum of the Future also did not talk about war.

"Don't you have any exhibit on what future weaponry will be like?" I asked one of the guides. He said no, not a trace. The museum imagines a world at peace. The great cities of the Gulf, and especially Dubai, had been conceived for a future also without war.

On the other side of the sea and the war, the most important museum in Tehran is not about the future. It is about contemporary art. There are works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, Dalí, Monet, or Matisse. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, in the 60s and 70s, during the shah's reign, Iran invested insistently in international art and bought relevant works from the Western market. The museum opens every day from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon. There are no works from the Stone Age, which is the future Donald Trump promised them.