UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Emirati foreign ministry, announcing the halt of all trade and payments with Iran.
On 18 August 2026, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a halt to all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran, closing a re-export and payment channel Tehran had used to soften the impact of sanctions.
Last refreshed: 19 August 2026
Why did the UAE cut off Iran's last major sanctions-evasion channel?
Timeline for UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Baqaei calls the UAE missile claim baseless
Iran Conflict 2026Announced the halt of all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran
Iran Conflict 2026: Abu Dhabi cuts Iran's payment channelBackground
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles Emirati diplomacy, including the country's relations with Iran across a conflict in which Abu Dhabi has tried to stay a mediator rather than a combatant.
The 18 August 2026 halt in trade and payments marked a shift from that mediating posture towards active economic pressure. The UAE has long served as a re-export and payment hub Iran used to soften sanctions, making the ministry's move one of the more consequential single actions against Tehran's remaining financial channels .
The ministry frames its actions as responses to security concerns rather than economic pressure, a distinction Iran disputes. Tehran's foreign ministry called the underlying missile allegation baseless and said such claims damage regional confidence-building .
The ministry halts trade with Iran
On 18 August 2026, the ministry announced, via state news agency WAM and attributed to its Director of Strategic Communications, a halt to all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran. The UAE had long served as a re-export and payment hub Iran used to soften the impact of sanctions, so the cut removed one of Tehran's few remaining financial channels .
The following day, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the underlying missile allegation behind the move baseless, saying such claims damage confidence-building between neighbours. The allegation concerned the UAE's 8 August assertion that an Iranian missile had targeted a vessel belonging to Abu Dhabi's state oil company .
