'Anxious wait' for couple stranded in Dubai

A couple who are stuck in Dubai following the launch of missiles in the Middle East are waiting to hear when they can come home.

Several countries in the region have been hit by retaliatory strikes after US and Israeli airstrikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Stuart Wilson, from Guernsey, said it was now "an anxious waiting game" for him and his wife Wendy.

The couple are hoping to travel back to the UK on a flight to Gatwick Airport in London scheduled for Tuesday morning, but said it "could be cancelled at any moment".

As of Sunday afternoon, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) defence ministry said it had so far "dealt with" 165 incoming ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles and 541 Iranian drones.

Wilson said: "We're just a bit out of the main busy part of Dubai, there's a lot of people here, the hotel have been brilliant, and they're supporting us in every way they can, really."

Wilson said they were registered with the British Embassy in Dubai - which had been providing information to the couple.

He said they were currently not allowed outside - but said the hotel the couple were staying in was attached to a large shopping mall.

"We can't go outside, they've closed all the communal areas, the patios, the swimming pool, you know, we're not allowed to go out there at all, it makes a lot of sense."

Wilson said he had heard explosions on Monday morning.

"We're ok where we are, we're quite safe at the minute, but it's just a bit scary when you get these things going off."

An islander who has not heard from her family in the Iranian capital of Tehran since Friday said the developments have been welcomed by the Iranian people "for the most part" as "they've been living under tyranny and hell".

Sophie Bonakdar told BBC Radio Guernsey there "is a little bit of a sigh of relief, but also a big deep breath of what's going to happen next, a bit of unease".

She said phone lines and internet have been cut since the strikes on Iran and she last heard from her mother on Friday.

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