By Federico Maccioni and Tim Hepher

DUBAI/PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) - Escalating conflict in the Middle East has laid bare how heavily global air travel relies on a handful of hubs led by Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, after the shutdown of Gulf airspace rippled quickly across airline networks worldwide.

Four decades after the Gulf's trading capital set out to exploit its strategic location by setting up Emirates with two rented jets and two routes, Dubai stands at the centre of a global network spanning 110 nations and 454,000 flights a year.

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday praised U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran, saying it was degrading Tehran's ability to get its hands on nuclear and ballistic missile capability, but he said NATO itself would not be involved.

"It's really important what the U.S. is doing here, together with Israel, because it is taking out, degrading the capacity of Iran to get its hands on nuclear capability, the ballistic missile capability," he told Germany's ARD television in Brussels.

The US Congress is scheduled to vote this week on motions seeking to curb President Donald Trump as he wages war against Iran, but the Republican majority will probably shield him.

Trump has sought to expand executive power drastically since returning to the White House in 2025, overshadowing the legislature.

So some lawmakers now want to reassert the role of Congress, which under the US constitution is the only body that can declare war.

GENEVA, March 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland said on Monday thatits diplomatic channel between the United States and Iran has remained active since the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran began on February 28.

"It is available to both parties and operates in both directions," the Swiss foreign ministry said in an email to Reuters, without providing details.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution when Washington and Tehran cut ties, Switzerland has had a mandate of a neutral "protecting power" representing U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran.

ANKARA, March 2 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticised attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel as a "clear violation" of interntional law on Monday, adding that Turkey shared the pain of the Iranian people.

Speaking at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey would intensify its contacts at all levels until a ceasefire was reached and calm achieved in the region, adding the continuation of the conflict carried serious risks for the region and the world that nobody could handle.

An extended conflict in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran could trigger global stagflation -- a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth -- due to spiking oil and gas prices, economists warned.

- Will there be an oil shock ? -

The conflict has nearly halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 percent of global seaborne oil passes, with several ships attacked.

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he ordered the U.S. military to attack Iran to thwart Tehran's nuclear program and a ballistic missile program that he said was growing rapidly.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; eduiting by David Ljunggren)

On Dubai's artificial island, empty beaches stand in stark contrast to frantic hotel lobbies, where stranded tourists have taken shelter as they wait for a way home.

Iran's strikes on Gulf neighbours since Saturday, following the US-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travellers who thought they were headed to one of the region's safest holiday destinations.

Dubai, which welcomed nearly 20 million visitors in 2025, has built its brand on safety and the global reach of its busy airport.

MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed risks of escalation around Iran in a phone call with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"Both sides expressed serious concern about the real risks of the conflict spreading, which has already affected the territories of a number of Arab countries and could have catastrophic consequences," the Kremlin said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday backed the aims of the US-Israeli war on Iran but called for its early end, voicing fear for the global economy, as he visited the White Hosue.

Merz, who has been among Europe's more hawkish voices on Iran, became the first foreign leader to see Trump after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on Saturday.

"This is, of course, damaging our economies. This is true for the oil prices, and this is true for the gas prices as well," Merz told reporters in the Oval Office as he met Trump.