Maritime trade between the United Arab Emirates and Iran is returning to normal after the UAE agreed to resume accepting Iranian commercial vessels, ILNA reported on June 22.

Shipments of essential goods stranded in Dubai have restarted, Khorshid Gazderazi, head of the Bushehr Chamber of Commerce, said on June 21, signalling an easing of supply-chain disruptions caused by the recent Iran-Israel conflict. The developments come as part of a restoration of Iran's southern trade corridors after weeks of disruption to Persian Gulf shipping. The UAE, home to the region's largest re-export hub at Jebel Ali.

Gazderazi said around 90% of maritime trade activity across southern Iran, including Bushehr province, had either stopped or slowed sharply during the conflict.

"Given the UAE's position as a regional economic hub and its significant share in Iran's foreign trade, especially in Bushehr province, the restrictions created serious challenges for merchants and economic actors," Gazderazi said, according to ILNA.

He said extensive efforts had been made to establish alternative routes, including transhipment via Iraq's Umm Qasr port and Oman, but these options increased costs for importers and exporters.

"With the end of the war, the UAE government has announced its readiness to once again accept Iranian commercial vessels," Gazderazi said. "It is expected that with the reactivation of UAE ports, maritime trade in Bushehr province will gradually return to normal."

The resumption of maritime commerce will enable roughly 2,000 traditional cargo vessels and 14,000 sailors to return to work, he added.

The easing of restrictions is already unlocking cargo flows. Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh told Tasnim News Agency that shipments of essential goods stranded in Dubai ports during the disruption had started moving to Iran.

"The problem of essential goods remaining in the UAE is being resolved and their shipment has begun," Nouri Ghezeljeh said. "Following negotiations, we no longer face any problem in transporting these goods to the country, and the obstacles are being removed."

Iranian officials had previously explored routing some of the cargo through Iraq after imports became stuck in Dubai amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Separately, the first Chinese commercial vessel to arrive after the lifting of maritime restrictions docked at Shahid Kalantari Port in Chabahar on June 20 carrying 409 containers of industrial goods, spare parts, household appliances, chemicals, steel products and solar panels.