UAE suspends flights by Iranian airlines, aviation authority says

The UAE's Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights by Iranian airlines to and from the UAE, as most of Iran's external flights remain grounded.

The United Arab Emirates' Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights by Iranian airlines to and from the UAE, according to the authority. The suspension covers traffic in both directions.

The move follows a broader grounding of Iranian air traffic. Treasury Secretary Bessent has said 80% to 90% of Iran's external flights are already grounded. The disruption comes against a tense backdrop over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has said the waterway will stay shut until Washington accepts a safe-passage route brokered with Oman, and has set a deadline of four to five days for a response. The United States has rejected an earlier Iranian proposal to reopen the strait, according to Yonhap. Iran's Foreign Ministry has separately said any return to nuclear talks depends on an end to what it calls a naval blockade, along with other conditions.

The UAE's order points to a shift from statements to actual restrictions on movement between Iran and the Gulf. Secretary of State Rubio has confirmed that Iran fired at commercial ships, adding a military dimension to what had been a negotiating standoff. For markets watching energy and shipping routes through Hormuz, the grounding suggests the risk calculus now has to account for incidents on the water and in the air, not just positioning at the negotiating table.