Iran warns five-star hotels used by US forces are legitimate targets

Iran has warned that five-star hotels in the Middle East could become targets, saying any hotel or site used by US forces in the region would be considered a legitimate target.

Although President Donald Trump announced a further 10-day delay to threatened strikes on Iran, claiming that Iran was “begging”, Iran’s response appeared to move in the opposite direction, with a declaration that five-star hotels were among the “legitimate targets”.

On March 27, 2026, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had decided to postpone attacks on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for another 10 days, until April 6, 2026 at 8pm US Eastern Time. This marked the second delay, after the first postponement of five days.

The threat to strike energy infrastructure has been used as a tool to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route that carries more than one-fifth of global oil supply. The conflict has disrupted traffic through the strait and sent shockwaves through the world economy.

However, Iran’s position appeared far removed from Trump’s claim. Iran declared that any hotel or site used by US forces in the region would be regarded as a “legitimate target”.

Fars News Agency, an Iranian outlet, issued a statement on Telegram citing “reliable sources” as saying that US forces are not limited to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, but also use “alternative bases and accommodation centres” in other countries.

The statement said there were several locations in three countries where US personnel were stationed, or where foreign experts had gathered, including sites in Lebanon and Syria such as the five-star Four Seasons Hotel Damascus, as well as airports in the Republic of Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa.

Fars also reported that “any place that provides accommodation to foreign military personnel, wherever it is located, will be considered a legitimate target”, citing sources as saying that the Four Seasons Hotel Damascus in Syria served as a centre for hosting foreign experts and dignitaries.

However, the hotel’s website states that Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts no longer manages the property and that the hotel is due to close.

The source also said that the Sheraton Damascus Hotel, another five-star property in Syria, and the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus had also served as meeting points for Israeli, American and British advisers and experts.

In Lebanon, reports said a US logistics base had been activated near the old Beirut airport, with troops and equipment deployed there. In Djibouti, US Marines were reportedly sent via Istanbul, Turkey, and Sofia, Bulgaria, to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport, where they are now stationed.

Fars concluded by saying that reliable sources had stressed Iran’s warning to hotel operators across the region was comprehensive and firm, and that any establishment accommodating foreign military personnel, wherever it was located, would be considered a legitimate target for self-defence by the Islamic Republic of Iran unless such activity stopped immediately.

Fars is known to be affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, and often publishes reports reflecting the Iranian regime’s position.