UAE suspends all trade and financial transactions with Iran After missile attacks

The UAE action also comes as negotiations between Washington and Tehran have again stalled over disagreements that include the Strait of Hormuz.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran after accusing Tehran of firing ballistic missiles toward maritime traffic, cutting off one of Iran’s largest commercial and financial connections.

The decision affects a major share of Iran’s international trade. The UAE supplied 31% of Iranian imports in 2024, worth roughly $21 billion, while receiving 13% of Iran’s exports, according to World Trade Organization data.

The suspension comes as the United States has sought to restrict financial networks used by Tehran.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Dubai-based exchange houses and trading fronts that it said helped Iranian networks transfer hundreds of millions of dollars and recover proceeds from oil sales.

The Treasury described those measures as part of President Donald Trump’s maximum-pressure policy toward Iran. Neither Washington nor Abu Dhabi has said the UAE’s suspension of trade was coordinated with the U.S. campaign.

The UAE action also comes as negotiations between Washington and Tehran have again stalled over disagreements that include the Strait of Hormuz, which carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war began earlier this year.

A 60-day deadline for reaching a broader agreement expired Monday without a new deal.

Trump said Tuesday that the United States was not holding talks with Iran and had no negotiations planned. He also said the U.S. naval blockade of Iran remained in effect and maintained that the Strait of Hormuz was “open and operating.”

Iran, however, has said the waterway will remain closed until Washington lifts oil sanctions, ends its blockade of Iranian ports and meets other conditions.

The dispute over the strategic waterway intensified a day earlier when Trump posted a map on Truth Social labeling the Strait of Hormuz “NEW U.S. Territory.”

The UAE trade suspension follows U.S. efforts to restrict Iranian access to financial channels in Dubai and removes a major route for Iranian imports and exports as Tehran faces continued economic pressure and a breakdown in negotiations with Washington.