Emirates flight EK310 lands at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport on 8 March in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. The Dubai-Hangzhou route has resumed operations after regional air services were disrupted by US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Emirates flight EK310 between Dubai and Hangzhou arrived at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport on 8 March, transporting 220 stranded passengers back to China.

• Iranians have been barred from entering the UAE, with limited exceptions for certain residents, families, and professionals, according to Dubai-based airlines Emirates and flydubai.
• The restrictions reflect worsening relations between Iran and the UAE, with the UAE closing its Tehran embassy and shutting Iran-linked entities in Dubai amid the ongoing Middle East war.
• UAE travel agencies report high visa rejection rates for Iranians, with some receiving official instructions to stop accepting visa applications from Iranian nationals.

Iranians have been barred from entering the UAE with only a few exceptions, Dubai-based airlines said, while travel agencies reported high visa rejections for Iranians since the Middle East war began.

The restrictions are the latest sign of deteriorating ties between Iran and the UAE, more than a month into Iran’s Gulf campaign, which has hit the United Arab Emirates harder than any other country.

Emirates and flydubai said on their websites that Iranian nationals were banned from entering the UAE, with the exception of some residents related to Emiratis, families and certain professions.

“Nationals of Iran are not allowed to enter and transit,” Emirates and flydubai said on their websites.

Exemptions apply to UAE residents who are spouses of Emiratis, children of an Emirati woman, or “athletes, bank executives, doctors, families, engineers, investors, senior professionals or traders”.

Flydubai said golden visa holders would also be allowed in.

AFP spoke to several travel agencies based in the UAE that reported a high rejection rate for Iranians visa applicants in the weeks since the start of the war.

One travel agency said it had received official instructions not to accept any visa applications from Iranian nationals.

READ | Ubuntu in the UAE: Durbanite in Dubai opens doors to stranded South Africans

Members of the Iranian community in the UAE told AFP the restrictions appeared to be new.

Tehran’s onslaught has already pushed Abu Dhabi to close its Tehran embassy and recall its ambassador, while Iran-linked entities, including a hospital, schools and a community centre, have been shut in Dubai.

The UAE is home to a sizeable Iranian community and has been one of the US-sanctioned Iran’s main trading partners, at least before the war.

They share deep cultural and historical ties as neighbouring countries across the Gulf, with centuries-old links between coastal communities, trade routes and family networks.