I am petrified after missile strikes, NI woman in Dubai says

A Belfast woman in the United Arab Emirates has said she is petrified following missile strikes in the Middle East.

Iran has launched fresh attacks across the region in response to an ongoing attack against it by the United States and Israel.

Teigan McFadden, who travelled to Dubai on holiday as a birthday present, is now there alone after her friend left early.

British and Irish citizens living in the Middle East are being encouraged to sign up to registration schemes.

McFadden said she was out on Saturday when she saw a missile being intercepted mid-air.

"I got back into the hotel room then all of a sudden the hotel started shaking and then I could see debris flying everywhere from outside my hotel room," she said.

McFadden is staying opposite from the five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel which is on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai's luxury man-made archipelago, where there was a large explosion on Saturday.

"At that point I crawled back into bed," she said.

"I was in tears. I was having a panic attack. I thought I was going to die. I phoned my mum. I was saying my last goodbyes.

"I've never experienced something to this altitude and to be by myself is absolutely petrifying."

After that her hotel started to shake again.

"At that point I panicked," she said.

"I ran down to reception, there were hundreds of people, there were kids in tears, everyone was in a panic."

Thousands of flights to and from the Middle East have been grounded.

McFadden's flight is on Tuesday but she is unsure if it will be operating.

Strikes have also been reported in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

One person has been killed and 11 injured at airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In a social media post on Sunday night, Stormont's Executive Office encouraged people to follow official advice.

It said the first and deputy first minister encouraged all British and Irish citizens in the Middle East to register their presence in the area as soon as possible through the portals available at the UK government and Irish government websites.

Bill Robinson, who is from Portadown in County Armagh but has lived in Dubai for the past 15 years, said several drones and missiles had been shot down but no debris had landed nearby.

"Just today, we were all up in the pool, lots of us from Ireland and Northern Ireland, and life was just going on as normal, even though there were missiles an hour, two hours before that," the 57-year-old said.

"Then the pool emptied very quickly when a couple of missiles went over and the UAE government shot them down.

"There's a few people are terrified and scared - I've my daughter who is a trained lawyer over here and she is spending most of the time in the basement.

"She really does not like what's happening but most of my Northern Irish and Irish friends who live over here are very blasé about the whole thing."

He added that friends who lived closer to the US Air Force base were nervous.

Zach Cairns, who is also from Portadown and has been working as an optician in Dubai for the past six years, said he "heard some bangs before anything official came through".

"There were some messages came through from the local government, just advising that there was drone attacks incoming and where my house is, sort of at the back of Dubai, we did see some interceptor missiles go up," he said.

"The general consensus in Dubai at the minute is almost, be careful, but pretty much go on as usual."

He said he was out for food with friends on Sunday.

"The general feeling is it's not going to last very long and that you are overall quite safe here with the defences and stuff that's in the UAE."

He added that "it would be worse if you were a tourist".

"The airports are closed so that would be a bit more uncertain and the other thing is I mean with Dubai most of the food and things are imported so if this was sort of something sustained where the flights were down then it would be more of a concern to residents," he said.

Meanwhile, some Iranians living in Northern Ireland staged a celebration outside Belfast City Hall on Sunday.

Edeh Zamani, who has been living here for 25 years, said she was celebrating the "falling of a brutal regime".

"We have been celebrating since the moment the news came out," she said.

Zamani added she had not been able to return to Iran in years as she was afraid of being arrested.

"The air of home, I want to breathe it again," she said.

"I'm happy for the people who are in Iran. They were fighting with their hands and teeth against this regime.

"They had bullets, we had hands. But it's gone."

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee urged Irish citizens to adopt a "shelter in place" strategy.

"A large number of Irish citizens, in particular in the UAE, are already on our citizen registration platform, with several hundred registering yesterday," McEntee said.

"I would encourage anyone in the region either resident or transiting to register.

"I am also aware of suggestions of consideration of land routes to neighbouring countries, such as Oman.

"However, I strongly urge citizens not to pursue anything other than a shelter in place strategy for now."

McEntee said this was the "common approach" across EU member states.

"This is a unique consular situation, with a large number of citizens located in UAE in particular and with local and regional airports shut and, in some cases, under attack," she said.