I have to leave now--gotta shake this Mudcat addiction somehow--but the Iran connection is intriguing.

According to the WSJ 23 Feb 2006, as of now "Iran uses Dubai to evade US economic sanctions on Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. The UAE doesn't recognize those sanctions." Dubai does cooperate with the US in terror investigations----but they'd be unlikely to cut off lucrative trade with Iran--including trade in violation of the above sanctions.

Dubai just agrees with Calvin Coolidge--"The business of America is business" I think is how he put it.