Sunita Somvanshi
The United Arab Emirates announced it is suspending all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement this week, a sharp break in an economic relationship worth tens of billions of dollars a year.
The ministry’s Strategic Communications Director, Afra Al Hameli, said the suspension follows “regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security” and applies until further notice. The move came after Iranian missile activity targeted Emirati waters during the wider conflict between Iran and the United States.
Before the conflict, the UAE was one of Iran’s largest trading partners. According to World Trade Organization figures cited by the Associated Press, the UAE provided more than 30% of Iran’s imports, valued at about $21 billion, while Iran exported roughly $7 billion in goods to the UAE. The two economies remained significant partners despite long-standing political tensions.
Iran warned Gulf states against assisting the United States. Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said that “any assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressive US military will be regarded as participation alongside US military forces,” according to Iran’s state media Tehran Times.
The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and carries a large share of the world’s oil shipments, has seen traffic fall sharply. About 10 vessels transited the strait on Tuesday, according to MarineTraffic, fewer than a tenth of the number that sailed through daily before the war began.
The UAE has long served as a re-export hub for Iranian agricultural goods such as wheat and rice. With trade suspended, alternative supply chains must be established, potentially straining regional food security and global commodity markets. This follows our earlier reporting on Iran’s lithium reserves.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the suspension on its official account in a posted statement, reaffirming Abu Dhabi’s stated commitment to dialogue even as it halted economic ties with Tehran.
