UAE squeezes Iranian economic lifeline in retaliation for attacks

An Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from a fire near Dubai International Airport on March 16.

Photo: AFP The United Arab Emirates has begun retaliating against Iran’s incessant air strikes on its industrial infrastructure by squeezing the economic lifeline it has long extended to the sanctions-bound Islamic Republic.

Rather than taking sweeping measures that would signal an escalation beyond its purely defensive posture, the UAE this week quietly banned most Iranians from entering the country or transiting its airports.

The UAE is home to more than half a million Iranians, many of whom are connected to ruling elites in Tehran.

According to advice posted on the websites of the UAE’s state-owned airlines Emirates, FlyDubai and Etihad late on Tuesday, only Iranians with long-term residency visas granted to business and property owners were exempted, along with skilled professionals, and the spouses and children of Emirati citizens.

The restrictions, which became widely known through social media posts rather than official channels, alarmed the Iranian expatriate community, with many fearing mass expulsions.

Passengers at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE this week quietly banned most Iranians from entering the country or transiting its airports.

Photo: Xinhua In a statement on Thursday, the UAE foreign ministry sought to calm their fears, reassuring residents that its “institutional approach is guided by well-established procedures and frameworks that safeguard the safety and well-being of all members of society, without exception”.

The ministry further “reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to fostering a safe and stable environment based on the rule of law, ensuring the protection of the rights of all residents, and reflecting its enduring values of tolerance and coexistence”.

Emirati authorities have also started cracking down on Iranian-owned shell companies based in the UAE’s free-trade zones, which are used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to trade oil and petrochemicals with buyers in mainland China, via intermediaries in Singapore and Hong Kong.

On March 20, the UAE State Security Apparatus said it had dismantled a “terrorist network” operated by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah through a commercial front.

The network had attempted to “infiltrate the national economy” under a “pre-established strategic plan in coordination with external parties linked to Hezbollah an

原文链接: 南华早报