UAE imposes indefinite trade embargo on Iran over alleged missile attacks

BREAKING: UAE imposes an indefinite trade embargo on Iran over alleged ballistic missile attacks on shipping, halting all trade and financial transactions 'until further notice.' Iran denies launching the missiles, calling it a 'false flag operation.'

The UAE has cut off all trade with Iran, indefinitely.

Abu Dhabi's Foreign Ministry announced it overnight, every commercial exchange and financial transaction halted until further notice. The trigger was those two ballistic missiles the Emiratis say Iran fired at shipping on Tuesday, one landing inside their territorial waters. Tehran calls the whole thing baseless, with spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei suggesting a false flag operation cooked up during the US and Israeli war on his country.

Some context on how raw this relationship is. Iran hit the UAE with more than 530 ballistic missiles in the war's first six weeks, and just days ago Abu Dhabi accused Tehran of attacking two of its ADNOC oil vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Layer this embargo on top of the American naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Tehran's economy is now being squeezed from two directions at once.

A retired US general told Al Jazeera this could hit Iran harder than anything Washington has done. The peace talks window expired Monday. The pressure did not.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at aljazeera.com