UAE suspends trade with Iran after saying it fired missiles at Gulf state
Defence ministry says weapons were targeting maritime traffic but fell into the sea
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday suspended trade and commercial ties with Iran after saying Tehran fired two ballistic missiles towards the Gulf state.
The UAE defence ministry said its air-defence systems detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards its territory, in what would be Tehran’s first direct attack on the Gulf state since May. It triggered an emergency phone alert to the UAE’s residents.
The defence ministry said assessments showed the missiles had been targeting maritime traffic but also stated one weapon fell into the sea outside the UAE’s territorial waters while another fell within.
The UAE foreign affairs ministry later announced that “in light of regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security, all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice”.
Iran denied any involvement in the missile attacks. Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the allegation was “contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness and undermines ongoing efforts to strengthen trust among the countries of the region”.
The missile attacks come after more than two months in which the UAE and Tehran were trying to reduce tensions between the two countries, which escalated after the US and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.
Much of Tehran’s military retaliation was directed against neighbouring Gulf states — including the UAE — which Iran accused of enabling the US-Israeli attacks.
The UAE bore the brunt of Iran’s assaults on the US’s Arab allies, sustaining almost 3,000 missile and drone attacks. The UAE responded with scores of its own strikes against Iran, as it took the most hawkish stance towards Tehran among its Gulf neighbours.
But tensions between the UAE and Iran eased following a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran in June. After the agreement began unravelling in early July, Iran directed its attacks mostly against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
In recent months the UAE reactivated diplomatic and economic channels with Iran while doubling down on military ties with Israel and the US.
The missile attacks on Tuesday threaten to disrupt the sense of normality that has returned to the UAE — the emergency phone alert was the first in several months apart from a false one in June.
Dubai’s financial district has been filling up with bankers again while some trade had resumed between the emirate and Iranian ports. In addition, certain Iranian flights to the UAE had quietly returned.
Emirati authorities had also started to allow the return of some 20,000 Iranians with UAE residency who were outside the country when the war began.
Emirati officials have repeatedly emphasised the UAE wants to avoid being further dragged into a wider regional war.
But the efforts to reduce tensions between the UAE and Iran have been under increasing pressure in recent weeks.
The UAE this month accused Iran of attacking ships operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran had in recent days also engaged in aggressive military rhetoric while maintaining restrictions on traffic through the strategic waterway.