White House envoy Witkoff meets UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon amid US crackdown on Iran trade
The meeting came days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign threatening sanctions on countries and entities doing business with Iran
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed al Nahyan in Sardinia to coordinate next steps on Iran, according to Axios. This comes as the Trump administration escalates its economic pressure campaign against Tehran through "Operation Economic Outcast."
Witkoff and Sheikh Tahnoon, known as TBZ, the brother of UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi, discussed the Iranian crisis and other issues during the previously unreported meeting, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The meeting came days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign threatening sanctions on countries and entities doing business with Iran. On the day of the meeting, the Treasury Department moved to cut off UAE branches of Egypt's Banque Misr from the US financial system over its dealings with Iran, prompting the UAE central bank to launch an "urgent examination" of the bank's Iran-related transactions.
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The UAE recently halted all trade, commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran, a significant shift given that trade between the two countries reached $28 billion in 2024. According to Axios, the decision was driven both by looming US secondary sanctions and Iranian attacks on Emirati oil tankers, though sanctions were not the primary factor.
On August 11, an Iranian delegation visited Abu Dhabi seeking de-escalation and asking for help securing food and medicine, while urging the UAE not to cooperate with US sanctions, a request Emirati officials immediately rejected. In the days that followed, Iran's Revolutionary Guard intensified attacks on UAE oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Emirati officials to suspend all business with Iran.
Emirati officials have told Washington that any effective pressure campaign must include all of Iran's major trading partners. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week instructed U.S. embassies worldwide to issue formal diplomatic demarches demanding host governments "immediately and systematically" sever trade with Iran, with specific messages sent to posts in Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Hong Kong, Doha, London, Berlin and several Central Asian capitals demanding the closure of IRGC-affiliated Iranian bank branches. The Trump administration is also working to establish an interagency task force to coordinate enforcement of the broader economic pressure campaign.