Abu Dhabi/Tehran: With the US-Iran War reaching a stalemate, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly made peace with Tehran by releasing several billion dollars of frozen assets held in its banks, including two tonnes of gold worth $283 million.
This was confirmed by multiple sources in Tehran familiar with the transfers, as reported by News18.
The move was aimed at persuading Iran to spare the UAE from future attacks amid renewed hostilities between in the region. Dubai and other parts of the emirates have come under attack by Iran over the last several months.
The transfers were made by an aircraft that travelled from Abu Dhabi to Tehran’s Mehrabad and Karaj’s Payam Airports on August 11 and 12. On each occasion, it stayed for about an hour before returning. The same aircraft had earlier flown from Abu Dhabi to Mehrabad Airport on June 8, transferring $3 billion, according to multiple Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters in June.
The UAE government has also allowed the sale of 15 second-hand passenger aircraft to Iranian airlines, the officials said, adding that this move is part of efforts to convince the Islamic regime in Iran to spare the UAE and avoid targeting the country during renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran.
According to reports, former Saudia Boeing 777-268ER aircraft have been transferred to Iran. Three Boeing 737-300/500 aircraft and two former Condor Airbus A320-212s have also been sold to Iranian airlines. The two Airbus A320 aircraft have already been flown to Iran.
The two Airbus A320-212s, identified as C9-ACE and C9-ACF, were spotted in a satellite image at George Enescu International Airport in Romania shortly before they were transferred to Iran. Another 14 passenger aircraft are set to arrive in the country, Iranian officials said, adding these will replace more than 30 passenger aircraft that were bombed and destroyed by the US and Israel.
