'Iranian banks remain open in UAE as US campaign squeezes Dubai trade - FT'

 Iran’s trade with Dubai is showing growing signs of strain under the war and Washington’s new economic campaign, but sanctioned Iranian banks, flights and some commercial routes continue to operate despite calls for a sweeping cutoff, the Financial Times reported Saturday.

Shipping between Dubai Creek and Iranian ports has fallen sharply. At a terminal historically used by wooden dhows trading with Iran, a security guard told the FT vessels were now heading to Oman and India. “No more Iran since last week,” he said.

The disruption matters because Dubai has for decades served as one of Iran’s most important gateways to international trade and finance. Pre-war commerce between Iran and the UAE was worth nearly $30 billion annually.

“The UAE is the only avenue for Iranian imports, as Iran has access to no other major container port other than Jebel Ali in Dubai,” Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation told the FT.

The effects are increasingly visible in Dubai’s traditional trading districts. But the economic break remains far from complete.

Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, both under US sanctions, continue serving customers through more than a dozen UAE branches combined, despite US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling for every Bank Melli branch worldwide to be closed. The two Iranian banks have more than 12 branches between them in the UAE, according to the report.

A Bank Melli employee said daily transactions, lending and letters of credit had seen no significant disruption and that the bank had recently renewed its license with the UAE central bank.

“We’re used to this,” the employee said, referring to previous sanctions.

Iranian airlines are also still flying to Dubai, the Iranian Business Council remains operational and Iranian produce continues to reach markets in the city.

Iranian traders are meanwhile adapting. One Tehran businessman told the FT that goods had been stockpiled in Turkey, some shipments were being rerouted through Oman and cargo could still be sent from Dubai to Bandar Abbas using false destinations on shipping documents.

“We are bypassing the blockade in the same way we have been bypassing sanctions,” he said. “Not much has changed.”

Washington increased the pressure Friday by moving to cut the UAE branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr from access to US financial institutions over alleged Iran-related activity.

The campaign comes after the UAE announced it was suspending trade and financial transactions with Iran. But analysts told the FT that centuries-old commercial ties and Dubai’s reliance on trade make a complete separation difficult.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202608293662