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UAE halts trade after missiles
The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday that it would halt all activities, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, citing a regional escalation tied to what it said were two missiles coming from Iran.
“it would halt all activities, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice”
UAE Defense Ministry assessments said the two ballistic missiles detected coming from Iran were aimed at maritime navigation and fell into the sea, with one missile falling in Emirati territorial waters and the second in international waters.
Tehran denied launching missiles toward the UAE, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejecting the UAE accusations as contradicting “the principle of good neighborliness” and harming efforts to build trust between regional states.
The UAE’s move came as the wider US-Iran conflict continued, with the UAE described as having been targeted by Iran more than any other Gulf state during the initial phase of the US-Israel-Iran war from late February until the April ceasefire.
Iran denies, UAE cites escalation
The UAE said its air defences detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the country, and later said the missiles were targeting “maritime navigation.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei rejected the accusation as “baseless,” suggesting it was a “false flag operation” amid the war launched by the United States and Israel against his country.
In a statement early on Wednesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision was made “in light of escalations that undermine peace and security in the region”.
Al Jazeera also reported that the UAE’s trade embargo followed a 60-day window for US-Iranian peace talks expiring without a breakthrough, and that Tuesday’s strike was the first targeting the UAE since May.
Economic pressure and navigation
The UAE’s suspension of trade and financial dealings with Iran was framed as a response to “regional escalations,” while the UAE said it remained committed to dialogue, cooperation, and regional integration as essential means to enhance peace, stability, and prosperity.
“the UAE’s trade embargo could hit Iran harder than anything Washington has imposed”
Al Jazeera quoted Mark Kimmitt, a retired US general and former assistant secretary of state, saying the UAE’s trade embargo could hit Iran harder than anything Washington has imposed, because Dubai had become Iran’s most important trading partner.
The same Al Jazeera report said the UAE had suspended direct cargo shipping between the two countries in early March, just days after the war began, and resumed trade only in late June via Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port.
The dispute also kept the Strait of Hormuz at the center of the standoff, with Iran warning that the strait would remain closed until it reached a peace agreement with the United States, even as the UAE said its missiles were aimed at maritime navigation.
