Iran's Bank Melli Shut Out of UAE for Regulatory Breaches

September 23, 2026

Author: 

Vallari Srivastava, Tala Ramadan and Federico Maccioni

Publication: 

Reuters

Related Country: 

  • United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s central bank announced that UAE branches of the Iranian financial institution Bank Melli are prohibited from conducting financial transactions to and from Iran due to failures to meet legal requirements related to countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The United States sanctioned the manager of Bank Melli's Dubai branch in August.