Emirati officials reported no damage, saying two ballistic missiles fell into the water
Published 18 Aug, 2026 17:02
| Updated 18 Aug, 2026 22:21
FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images / Anadolu / Mamoun Wazwaz
The UAE has accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles in its direction on Tuesday, as the two-month window for US-Iran peace talks expired without a breakthrough. Following the incident, Abu Dhabi announced a halt to all trade and financial transactions with Tehran.
The alleged incident was reported by the UAE’s Defense Ministry and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA). The agencies did not explicitly say whether the incoming missiles were shot down. The military stated that one of them fell inside the country’s territorial waters, while the second landed outside.
Later in the day, the Defense Ministry said the projectiles appeared to have attacked “maritime navigation.” The ministry did not specify whether the allegedly targeted vessels were traveling within the country’s domestic or international waters.
Shortly after the UAE’s military provided the update on its assessment of the alleged attack, the Foreign Ministry announced a halt to all trade and transactions with Iran over the incident.
“In light of the regional escalation that undermined regional and international peace and security, all activities, trade exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been suspended until further notice,” the ministry said in a statement.
Iran has not publicly commented on the allegations. At the height of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran repeatedly targeted the Gulf nation, accusing it of allowing US forces to use its territory to launch attacks.
Iran’s state broadcaster Press TV claimed that the barrage bore the hallmarks of an Israeli “false-flag operation.”
The 60-day window set out in a US-Iranian memorandum for reaching a peace deal expired on Monday without a breakthrough. The two sides repeatedly exchanged strikes during the negotiating period, while shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained largely disrupted.
Earlier on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that “no talks or conversations [were] going on, or scheduled” with Iran. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Iran maintains that it controls maritime traffic through the waterway and has repeatedly signaled plans to impose permanent tolls for safe passage.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), reiterated the position on Tuesday, arguing that Washington’s failure to reopen the strait signaled “the post-American order in the Persian Gulf.”
“The gap between America’s inability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its claim to own it is greater than the 7,000-mile distance between Washington and the Strait itself,” Rezaei wrote on X.
The escalation comes amid reports that the US is facing a missile shortage, while the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, operating near Iran, has been plagued by maintenance and supply problems. Trump suspended the bombing campaign against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz in late July, saying he was providing space for negotiations.