UAE-Iran Economic Commission Meets After 10 Years Amid Tensions

UAE Iran Economic Relations Trade Sanctions

May 5, 20268 min readMiddle East

UAE-Iran Economic Commission Meets After 10 Years Amid Tensions

UAE and Iran strengthen ties with first joint economic meeting in a decade.

{"results": [{"url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-iran-joint-economic-commission-convenes-first-time-10-years-2024-04-30/", "title": "UAE-Iran joint economic commission convenes for first time in 10 years | Reuters", "author": "Reuters", "highlights": ["UAE-Iran joint economic commission convenes for first time in 10 years | Reuters\n[...]\nDUBAI, April 30 (Reuters) - A rare United Arab Emirates-Iran joint economic commission will convene in Abu Dhabi from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Iranian Labour News Agency reported, as Tehran seeks to bolster economic ties with Gulf states amid mounting U.S. pressure.\n[...]\nThis is the first meeting in 10 years for the bilateral joint economic cooperation commission, with Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehdi Bazrpash and Emirati Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri in attendance.\n[...]\nThe UAE downgraded its diplomatic ties with Iran after Riyadh severed its ties with Tehran in 2016 following the storming of the Saudi embassy in the Islamic Republic by hardline protesters over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric.\n[...]\nAfter years of animosity on different sides of geopolitical rivalries, the UAE started re-engaging with Tehran in 2019.\n[...]\nIt resulted in upgraded diplomatic ties last year between Iran and the UAE, which has business and trade ties with Tehran stretching back more than a century, with Dubai emirate long being one of Iran's main links to the outside world.\n[...]\nThe ministers are expected to mainly discuss cooperation in international trade corridors while private sector representatives will discuss trade and investment.\n[...]\nIran imported $20.8 billion of goods from the UAE in its last fiscal year ending in March 2024, making the latter Iran's top source of imports according to the country's Customs body. In the same period, the UAE was Iran's top third export destination, with $6.6 billion worth of goods exported."]}, {"url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-minister-head-large-trade-delegation-uae-tehran-times-2022-01-31/", "title": "Iran to send large trade delegation to UAE - Iranian newspaper", "author": "Reuters", "highlights": ["DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Iran will send a large trade delegation to the United Arab Emirates in February, the Tehran Times newspaper reported on Monday, a visit that would come against a backdrop of Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement launching attacks on the UAE.\n[...]\nThe UAE has long been one of Iran's main links to the outside world, but the reimposition of sanctions by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 halved bilateral trade to $7 billion in 2019 according to World Bank data.\n[...]\nIran's Minister of Industry will visit the UAE with the economic delegation from Feb. 6, the English-language newspaper reported.\n"During the three-day visit, Reza Fatemi-Amin will also meet with the UAE government and private sector officials to discuss economic and trade relations," it added.\n"The trip has been organised in line with the Iranian government's plans for developing economic and trade diplomacy with countries in the region, especially Iran's southern neighbours."\nThe UAE government did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the report.\n[...]\nThe announcement coincides with a third missile attack against the UAE by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement which is fighting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which includes the UAE.read more\n[...]\nIn spite of Iran's continued support to the Houthis, Tehran and Abu Dhabi have tried to abate tensions and boost bilateral trade.\nIn December, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE's senior national security adviser, visited Iran and expressed hopes of a "turning point" in Iranian-UAE relations.read more\nSign uphere.\nReporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra"]}, {"url": "https://www.reuters.com/article/business/in-dubai-us-sanctions-pressure-historic-business-ties-with-iran-idUSKCN1NO14Y/", "title": "In Dubai, US sanctions pressure historic business ties with Iran", "author": "Tuqa Khalid", "highlights": ["historic business ties with Iran |\n[...]\nDUBAI (Reuters) - With its Persian restaurants and shop signs in Farsi, Murshid Bazaar, a dense maze of alleys in Dubai's old quarter, has for decades been a center for small-scale trade with Iran.\n[...]\nThe Iranians who stayed say the fallout from U.S. sanctions has made their jobs harder. Dubai has long been one of Iran's main links to the outside world, but trade between the two has slowed as sanctions approached.\n[...]\nImposed in early November and August, the sanctions target Iran's rial currency, autos, metals, oil and banking.\n[...]\nBanks in the United Arab Emirates, including in Dubai, have become more reluctant to work with Iranians for fear of exposing themselves to U.S. legal action. And the rial's nearly 70 percent fall against the U.S. dollar this year has made business with Iran risky.\n[...]\nThe deteriorating bank ties also threaten a larger re-export trade of other countries' goods to Iran through Dubai's ports and airports. In the past, these have included cars and auto parts, consumer electronics, machinery, glass and plastics.\n[...]\nLast year, 29 percent of Iran's $71.5 billion imports passed through the UAE, according to International Monetary Fund data. The vast majority moved via Dubai, which does not disclose timely data on its trade with Iran.\n[...]\nTwo-way trade between Iran and the UAE shrank to $1.75 billion in July from $2.49 billion last December. In 2014, at the height of the previous sanctions period, monthly trade averaged $1.92 billion.\n[...]\nVisits to the Gulf this year by U.S. Treasury officials to discuss the legal enforcement of sanctions, made the region's banks nervous of links with Iran, Emadi said. This made it harder to arrange payments for trade, he added.\n[...]\nBanks in Dubai no longer open accounts for Iranians without obtaining the co-signature of a UAE national and demanding a series of documents, said the Iranian manager of a herbs and spices shop at Murshid Bazaar. International money transfers through banks have largely become impossible, he said.\n[...]\nUAE central bank governor Mubarak Rashed al-Mansoori said this month that UAE banks were cautious about Iran business because of their need to keep relations with clearing banks in the United States.\n[...]\nBank Melli and Bank Saderat, which largely serve Iranians, would continue\n[...]\nin the UAE.\n[...]\nThe Dubai government referred questions on sanctions to the UAE economy ministry. A ministry official said the UAE was fully complying with U.S. sanctions.\n[...]\nIran's central bank said last month UAE banks were no longer facilitating transactions for Iranian merchants. It said Tehran was seeking regional alternatives to replace the UAE as a center for its banking business, the Iranian IRNA news agency reported.\n[...]\nU.S. President Donald Trump reimposed the sanctions in an effort to curb Tehran's missile and nuclear programs and diminish the Islamic Republic's influence in the Middle East, notably its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.\n[...]\nU.S. officials say they plan further action\n[...]\nWith business ties to Iran stretching back over a century and an Iranian population estimated at 200,000 or more, well over 5 percent of the total, Dubai has ridden out sanctions before.\n[...]\nBusinessmen have found ways to continue operating. Some Iranian traders used people of other nationalities to transfer money abroad or struck barter deals, involving an exchange of goods with no payments of hard currency.\n[...]\nBut the Obama administration did not rigidly enforce sanctions, leaving a small number of banking and trading channels open. The Trump administration appears to be taking a tougher line.\n[...]\nAt the Iranian Business Council, membership has fallen to about 50 from 500 in 2011. This is partly because businesses are reluctant to be associated with the group during sanctions, said Hossein Asrar Haghighi, an Iranian businessman and member who has lived in Dubai for 37 years."]}, {"url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/us-targets-iran-with-fresh-sanctions-ahead-next-nuclear-talks-2025-04-30/", "title": "US targets Iran with fresh sanctions ahead of next nuclear talks | Reuters", "author": "Daphne Psaledakis", "highlights": ["US targets Iran with fresh sanctions ahead of next nuclear talks | Reuters\n[...]\nWASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on entities it accused of being involved in the illicit trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals ahead of a new round of U.S.-Iran negotiations on Saturday, as Washington seeks to ramp up pressure on Tehran.\n[...]\nThe U.S. State Department said in a statement it was imposing sanctions on seven entities based in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Iran that it accused of trading Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. Two vessels were also targeted.\n[...]\nU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a separate statement that the action targeted four sellers and one buyer of Iranian petrochemicals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.\n[...]\nWednesday's action is the latest move targeting Tehran since Trump restored his " maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero and help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.\n[...]\n"The President is committed to driving Iran\u2019s illicit oil and petrochemical exports - including exports to China - to zero under his maximum pressure campaign," Rubio said.\n[...]\nThe action comes as the United States has relaunched talks with Iran over its nuclear program. U.S. and Iranian negotiators will reconvene in Rome on Saturday.\n[...]\nIn his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping U.S. sanctions.\n[...]\nSince then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment.\n[...]\nWestern powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program. Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian power purposes."]}, {"url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-leans-trade-deals-growth-non-oil-trade-jumps-15-2024-2025-02-05/", "title": "UAE leans on trade deals for growth as non-oil trade jumps 15% in 2024 | Reuters", "highlights": ["UAE leans on trade deals for growth as non-oil trade jumps 15% in 2024 | Reuters\n[...]\nDUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates' non-oil trade in goods touched a record 3 trillion dirhams ($817 billion) in 2024, up 14.6% from the previous year, as the Gulf oil exporter leans on its trade strategy to spur future growth.\n[...]\nEarlier, UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wrote on X that the country had already reached 75% of its 4 trillion dirham target for non-oil trade set for 2031.\n[...]\nThe UAE is widely considered to be the region's tourism and business hub, and it has invested heavily in trade and logistics infrastructure and devised policy to help accelerate efforts to diversify its economy.\n[...]\nSince 2021 it has initiated a raft of bilateral trade, investment and cooperation deals called Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs), and has so far negotiated deals with countries ranging from India and Indonesia to politically opposed nations such as Israel and Turkey, as well as smaller states.\n[...]\nThe share of exports in UAE's total non-oil trade rose to 18.7% last year, from 11% in 2015, Zeyoudi said.\n[...]\nThe value of exports to partner CEPA countries jumped 42.3% year on year in 2024, and accounted for about a quarter of overall non-oil exports, which reached 561.2 billion dirhams last year.\n[...]\n"Through our CEPA programme, we are securing partnerships with those nations who share our belief that open, rules-based trade is an essential driver of economic growth, development and diversification," Al Zeyoudi said in emailed comments to Reuters.\n[...]\nThe country is hoping to kick off trade talks with the European Union in 2025, a move which has the support of many EU member states.\n[...]\nIraq has cut oil production by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day and those cuts could widen to more than 3 million bpd within days as the \u200bcountry runs out of storage and cannot export crude due to the Iran \u200bcrisis, two Iraqi oil officials told Reuters on Tuesday."]}]}