The United Arab Emirates has suspended all forms of trade, commercial contact and financial transactions with Iran until further notice. Afra Al Hameli, the foreign ministry’s director of communications, said Tuesday that ties with Iran were being cut off in light of rising regional tensions.
Roughly two hours before the UAE’s first official statement, residents received a warning message on their mobile phones. It said there was a threat of a possible missile attack and urged everyone to take shelter in the nearest safe building. The warning was withdrawn a short time later. AFP news agency reported the development. It was the first such warning since a mistaken alert in June and a warning in July over an attack that did not enter UAE territory.
Meanwhile, tankers carrying fuel for state-owned oil company ADNOC have repeatedly come under attack in recent weeks. Since war broke out in the Middle East on February 28, the UAE has been the single biggest target of Iranian strikes, with roughly 3,000 missiles and drones launched toward the country.
However, after a memorandum of understanding between the two sides took effect in June — which later collapsed — the UAE had said it had not come under attack since, even as other Gulf countries were struck.
On Tuesday, the UAE alleged that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles targeting shipping in the Gulf. The foreign ministry said one missile landed outside UAE territorial waters.
The other landed within territorial waters. In a subsequent assessment, the UAE said both missiles had been aimed at vessels transiting the sea route. Iran, however, completely denied the allegation. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei directly rejected the UAE’s claim, saying such allegations were damaging to efforts to build regional trust and security.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report