‘Something just exploded’: Canadians in Middle East describe Iran missile attack as ‘surreal’ – National
“I don’t know if you just heard that, but it sounds like something just went wrong.”
Those are the words of Graison Foster, a Canadian living in Dubai, in an interview with Global News on Sunday when Iran was firing missiles at different countries in the Middle East.
The missile launch is part of Iran’s retaliation as the US and Israel continue to bomb the country, which led to the assassination of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Iran has launched strikes on the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Israel, as well as several other countries in the region.
Foster told Global News that he was getting out of his rental car on Saturday night when he saw something.
“I saw something go by and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s interesting, what is that?’ You know the sound when a plane passes by and you hear that (sound) suddenly there was an explosion,” he said.
He said the missile hit the Fairmont The Palm hotel in Palm Jumeirah, where he lives. Pictures taken by Reuters on Sunday show the damage to the hotel.
After the missile was fired, Foster said people started filming and taking pictures before “a lot of missiles started coming.”
“Yes, they block them so they explode high in the sky,” he said. “But the sound of it and the look of it are very scary and amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life, of course, growing up in Canada.”
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The crowd, including Foster, ran to a nearby restaurant and stayed there for several hours.
Foster said the emergency warnings made the situation more stressful.
“I tried to sleep last night around 1:30 in the morning,” she said. “They put in an emergency alert system, we got a few of those on our phones. The missiles were really being intercepted, so that noise, the shrill sound and it scares you.”
Foster added that the government of Dubai has put out statements on social media about where safe places are located, and advises people to pack essentials in case they are needed.
Canadians have been urged to shelter in place, and register for information
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand on Sunday sent a message to X urging Canadians in the Middle East and Gulf States to remain safe as conflicts continue in the region.
“Canadians in the wider region should follow local guidance and only evacuate when it is safe to do so,” Anand wrote.
He went on to say that diplomatic support under the Canadian delegation has been sent to the surrounding region to help Canadians in many countries. Those countries include Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Jordan and Israel.
Individuals are asked to register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad for the latest information.
“We condemn the Iranian Regime’s indiscriminate attacks against civilian infrastructure across the region, including the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan,” Anand wrote. “This attack is a serious threat to the stability of the region and the safety of the people.”
According to Global Affairs Canada, 2,934 Canadians and permanent residents were registered as Iranians as of Feb. 27. Another 22,944 are from Lebanon, 5,527 from Israel, and 434 from Palestine.
The agency said more than 75,000 people have registered in the Middle East, but added that the numbers are general estimates as registration is voluntary.
Global News requested updated numbers as of Sunday, but did not respond by publication.
Queen’s University students are stranded in Doha
Foster is one of many Canadians who live in or visit one of several countries targeted by Iran.
It was an equally difficult situation for several Queen’s University students stranded at the airport in Doha, Qatar.
The group was on a flight to Toronto following a field study in Sri Lanka, with a stopover in Doha, when they heard an announcement mid-flight that the airport was closed.
“At first there was panic between me and my classmates,” said fourth-year biology student Claire Haffner.
He said the Qatar Airways flight returned to Doha, where passengers were held before disembarking in what he described as “chaos” at the airport.
The group is waiting to find out when they will be able to leave as the airport remains closed.
–with files from Global News by Prisha Dev, Heidi Petracek and Aaron D’Andrea, and The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
