The central bank of the United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday that it would conduct a “special and urgent examination” of an Egyptian bank operating in the country, the latest fallout from the Treasury Department’s renewed push to isolate Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department said last week that the Egyptian bank, the state-owned Banque Misr, was helping Iran evade sanctions, drawing fresh attention to the Emirates’ role as a hub for trade with Iran.
The department proposed a rule that would prevent the bank’s Emirati branches from doing business with American financial institutions. It also called the bank “a critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to U.S. dollars.” It estimated that between January 2024 and June 2026, the bank’s Emirati branches had processed about $1.8 billion in transactions “that are potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks,” enabling the Islamic republic to evade U.S. sanctions.
“Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement on Friday. Last week, he announced another round of economic warfare against Iran in the form of sanctions against dozens of entities, individuals and vessels.
Banque Misr said it was treating the allegations with “utmost seriousness and attention” and planned to cooperate with the Treasury Department.
The bank adheres to “all applicable laws, regulations, instructions and supervisory controls,” it said in a statement. The suggested regulatory action would not affect Banque Misr branches in Egypt or other countries aside from the Emirates, the bank added.
The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the manager of an Emirati branch of Bank Melli, Iran’s largest lender, and a Hong Kong-based company that it said had helped launder funds for an Iranian exchange house that is under U.S. sanctions.
The Emirates, located just 50 miles from Iran across the Persian Gulf, has nurtured close economic and cultural ties with Iran for decades despite political tensions between the two countries.
Analysts said that trade through Dubai, the Emirates’ largest city, had long been essential to Iranian efforts to evade sanctions, eliciting complaints and pressure from the American authorities.
The Treasury Department said that Banque Misr had facilitated transactions for “front companies” based in the Emirates, some of which it said were involved in the flow of money to Iran’s defense ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The Emirati central bank said it was “studying the available options regarding the status of the bank” in case the Treasury Department decided to move forward with its proposed action.
Emirati officials say that they crack down on any sanctions violations when they find them. This month, the government said it was halting all trade and financial transactions with Iran. The announcement came one day before the Trump administration said it was starting its renewed economic campaign against Iran.
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