UAE Halts All Trade With Iran After Missiles Land Near Its Waters

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates —

The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it has suspended all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran, cutting off a country that had been one of Tehran's largest trading partners despite years of US sanctions.

The move came a day after the UAE said Iran fired two ballistic missiles toward its territorial waters, later clarifying that the missiles had been aimed at shipping rather than at the country directly. Both missiles fell into the sea, one inside Emirati waters, and caused no damage or casualties, the UAE said.

"In light of regional escalations ... all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice," said Afra Al Hameli, director of the strategic communications department at the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Euronews. Al Hameli said the UAE remains committed to protecting the international financial system and to dialogue with its neighbors, Euronews reported.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, rejected the UAE's account, according to CNBC and Euronews, denying that Tehran had fired any missile at the country.

A wider standoff frays further

The suspension is the latest in a string of measures the UAE has taken against Iran since the war between Iran and US and Israeli forces began in February, including recalling its ambassador and closing Iran-linked schools and a hospital, Euronews reported. Tankers belonging to the Emirati state oil company ADNOC have been hit repeatedly in recent weeks, with attacks on August 8 and August 14 that the UAE called acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Euronews.

The episode landed just as President Trump confirmed the United States is not currently talking with Iran and has no plans to restart negotiations, CNBC reported. Trump also ruled out extending a 60-day ceasefire that expired Monday. That statement contradicted comments a day earlier from Jared Kushner, Trump's envoy and son-in-law, who had said Washington and Tehran were having "very positive and active conversations," according to South China Morning Post.

Hormuz traffic stays choked

Crude flowing through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 4.9 million barrels a day in the second quarter of this year, down from 21.6 million barrels a day in the last quarter of 2025, Euronews reported, citing US Energy Information Administration data. The agency does not expect trade through the strait to return to its prewar pattern before early 2027, according to Euronews. Trump has repeatedly said the strait is open and under US control, but observed ship traffic remains extremely low, and an attack on a cargo vessel transiting the passage this week killed one person, CNBC reported.

Hours after the UAE's announcement, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Ali Abdollahi, warned Gulf nations against helping US forces, saying any assistance to "the aggressor US military amounts to participation in the US military operation," according to Iran's Mehr news agency, as reported by Euronews and South China Morning Post.