The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is halting all trade, financial, and commercial ties with Iran until further notice, after saying Tehran had fired ballistic missiles targeting its territory.
Late on Tuesday, the UAE’s Defense Ministry said that “assessments revealed the two ballistic missiles detected, originating from Iran, were targeting maritime navigation and fell into the sea.”
A few hours earlier, the ministry had announced that the UAE’s air defense systems detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards the country. One of the missiles fell outside the UAE’s territorial waters, while the second fell within its territorial waters, the ministry added.
In light of these missiles fired from Iran, the UAE halted all economic ties with Iran.
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The Director of the Strategic Communications Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Afra Al Hameli, said 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,” the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said.
Iran, for its part, denied the UAE’s accusations that the missiles originated from the Islamic Republic.
“This behaviour is contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness and disrupts ongoing efforts to strengthen trust between regional countries and prevent the escalation of insecurity in the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei was quoted as saying.
The spokesperson also warned countries in the region to refrain from making “baseless accusations” against Iran.
The UAE-Iran standoff further stokes tensions in the Middle Eastern region, where the U.S.-Iran deadlock over the control of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil prices higher this week.
Brent Crude prices have topped $91 per barrel and WTI Crude has moved above $85 a barrel as hopes of U.S.-Iran negotiations have faded and tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz further slowed amid heightened security concerns.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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