New UN sanctions imposed on Iran will harm trade with the UAE, an Iranian business official said on Tuesday, according to a report by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
“The reality is that this kind of sanctions on Iran will have a negative impact on the trade in the UAE, particularly in Dubai – there is no question about it,” Morteza Masoumzadeh, vice president of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai told AFP.
The sanctions, imposed on Iran on June 9 as a result of its pursuit of a nuclear programme, have already led to an increase in trade costs and issues with securing shipping insurance, Masoumzadeh added.
Trade between Iran and Dubai alone is estimated at around $10bn a year, consisting mainly of imports from the republic.
“We do a significant amount of trade with Iran. It cannot be all illicit and it can’t be all illegal. What we’re trying to do is sift the good from the bad, and make sure nothing legitimate gets harmed by sanctions,” Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US told The National newspaper.
However, the UAE is complying with the UN sanctions, Otaiba added.
US Undersecretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey completed a trip to the region this week. His visit took in the UAE, Bahrain and Lebanon and was “to discuss the new UN Security Council Resolution last June imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran,” according to a report by the WAM news agency.
“As Iran becomes more isolated and is driven from other markets, there will be greater attempts to engage in evasive conduct and therefore simply keeping a steady vigilance is not good enough,” Levey is quoted as saying by WAM.
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