Iran and UAE have signed an airspace agreement to boost the number of flights between Iran and the UAE, mainly through Iranian airspace. The agreement was signed by the officials from Civil Aviation Organization of Iran and UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The Iran-UAE airspace agreement is announced on the backdrop of Oman's decision to open its airspace to Israeli flights. This occurred after Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to Israeli planes in 2022.
The UAE and Iran have cordial economic and political relations, despite facing off on some regional issues. Iran reportedly exported more than $2.2 billion worth of non-oil products to the UAE from March to July of 2022, making Iran's third-largest export destination during the period.
Iranian exports to the UAE in 2021 amounted to nearly $362 million while UAE’s exports to Iran equalled $6.6 billion that year, according to Trading Economics.
The two countries cooperate in a variety of fields. The Emirati and Iranian environment ministries also discussed joint cooperation on fighting dust storms last July.