UAE Suspends All Trade With Iran After Missile Fire
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- The UAE suspended all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran after two ballistic missiles were fired toward it late Tuesday — the first nationwide shelter warning in weeks — with both projectiles splashing down in the Persian Gulf.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei denied launching any missiles at the UAE, though the UAE Defense Ministry said assessments indicated the missiles targeted maritime traffic.
- Before the war, the UAE was Iran's largest trading partner, supplying more than 30% of its imports (~$21 billion) and receiving ~13% of its exports (~$7 billion) according to 2024 WTO figures cited in the article.
- Iran has struck nearly 20 ADNOC vessels since the conflict began — killing one and wounding about 20 — including four Abu Dhabi state-owned tankers in the past two weeks as part of its effort to control the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iran's Chief of Staff Gen. Ali Abdollahi warned Gulf states that "any assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressor U.S. military amounts to participation alongside U.S. military forces."
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said forthcoming U.S. measures will combine economic isolation with the continued blockade of Iranian ports; the IMF forecasts ~70% inflation and a 5.4% economic contraction in Iran this year.
Why it matters: Iran just lost its single largest trading partner — the UAE supplied over 30% of its imports worth roughly $21 billion — while the U.S. layers additional isolation and a continued port blockade on top, accelerating an already dire domestic outlook of ~70% inflation and 5.4% contraction forecast by the IMF.
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