The United Arab Emirates announced that it has suspended trade ties and financial transactions with Iran “until further notice,” according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.
In his declaration on Tuesday, UAE Foreign Ministry’s Communications Director Afra Al Hameli cited “regional escalations” as contributing to the major development. The unprecedented announcement from UAE officials came hot on the heels of the nation’s Ministry of Interior’s alert to residents about “potential missile threats,” a first of its kind of incident reported since the Fujairah port was targeted on May 4.
The communication shared over their official social media handles, in turn, came a day after the 60-day deadline for the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran elapsed on Monday. Both sides signed it in June in hopes of potentially resolving the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which started on February 28 with the US and Israel launching a joint military action against Tehran.
UAE halts trade with Iran: See statement
Addressing the new changes, the UAE’s foreign affairs ministry stated 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.”
UAE repeatedly claims Iran launched attacks against it
Earlier, on Tuesday, the country’s defence ministry and National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said they had detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran. In a subsequent statement, UAE’s officials said that the missiles, which later fell into the sea, sought to target “maritime traffic.”
UAE authorities asserted that the country’s armed forces were ready to respond to any threats and would “resolutely confront anything that targets the destabilisation of the state’s security.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, on the other hand, vehemently refuted the claims on Wednesday, slamming them as “unfounded accusations,” according to Iranian state media Press TV.
Levelling similar allegations against Iran a few days ago, the UAE said Tehran attacked an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel as it was crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported. As Abu Dhabi’s state oil company, ADNOC is one of the world’s largest energy producers.
Although no injuries were reported, the UAE foriegn ministry pushed Tehran to halt what it described as unprovoked attacks and fully reopen the critical waterway. Iran didn’t claim responsibility for the attacks even though Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have previously warned action against ships and tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz if they are linked to the Tehran’s enemies of fail to comply with Iran’s directives.
UAE particularly bore the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory military action after the US and Israel started their war against Tehran in February. Iran even accused the United Arab Emirates of enabling the US-Israeli attacks. A sense of stability finally returned to the UAE after Washington and Tehran signed the MoU in June. However, the new wave of attacks and the expiration of the interim agreement between the US and Iran once again seek to unravel the semblance on normality.