Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 5
By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:
Joining diplomatic action against Iran by Saudi Arabia and its allies will have no significant impact on Tehran's economy, Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian economist, believes.
Among Saudi Arabia's allies that have severed or downgraded their ties with Tehran, only United Arab Emirates (UAE) has considerable trade ties with Iran, Leylaz told Trend Jan. 5.
According to the Iranian customs service, the value of the UAE exports to Iran between March and September last year stood at $4.714 billion, while the value of the goods imported by the Arab state from Iran stood at $3.178 billion in the mentioned period.
Trade turnover (March-September 2015)/ USD |
|
Iran export to Saudi Arabia |
113,143,382 |
Iran import from Saudi Arabia |
33,070,284 |
Iran export to UAE |
3,178,538,552 |
Iran import from UAE |
4,714,995,275 |
Iran export to Sudan |
34,409,650 |
Iran import Sudan |
83,363 |
Iran export to Djibouti |
10,831,215 |
Iran import from Djibouti |
22,066 |
Iran export to Kuwait |
140,977,755 |
Iran import from Kuwait |
21,349,870 |
Source: Iran Customs Administration |
The UAE normally behaves conservatively in case of imposing economic sanctions against Iran, the economist mentioned.
Saying that the United Arab Emirates basically formulates its policy based on economy and trade ties, he added that the UAE does not tend to interrupt its trade ties due to political reasons.
"Over the past years Iran has had a key role in improving the economic situation in the UAE. The UAE has been benefited from tensions generated in the world by Iran," Leylaz stated.
The dispute will not have a significant impact on Iran's economy, if the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia remain in the current level, he added.
The UAE also needs to continue its economic ties with Tehran that is why the United Arab Emirates has not decided to cut its ties with Iran and it has only downgraded the ties, Leylaz said.
"So far the UAE and Turkey have been benefited from tensions between Iran and the world," he added.
Iran |
Saudi Arabia |
UAE |
Sudan |
Djibouti |
Kuwait |
|
Population (2013) |
77.45m |
28.83 m |
9.346 m |
37.96 m |
0.8m |
3.369 m |
GDP (2013, billion USD) |
368.9 |
748.4 |
402.3 |
66.57 |
1.456 |
175.8 |
source: World Bank |
"The war between Iran and Iraq did not affect Tehran ties with the UAE, therefore I do not believe that tensions between Tehran and Riyadh will interrupt the economic ties between the Islamic Republic and the UAE," he concluded.
Sudan, Djibouti, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE have joined diplomatic action against Iran after a group of angry Iranian protestors stormed Saudi embassy in Tehran following the kingdom's execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric on Jan. 2.