TEHRAN, May 4. /TASS/. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) decided to withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ as an act of retaliation against neighboring countries and other members of the organizations following the US-Iran conflict, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.
"We learned about this decision from the media. However, I believe that a country’s desire to act in this way as a negative reaction or as revenge against countries in the region or OPEC member states is by no means constructive," he emphasized.
According to Baghaei, over the past two months the UAE has taken a number of destructive steps, including cooperation with the United States and Israel during the aggression against Iran, which has caused numerous problems not only for the Islamic Republic but also for all countries in the Middle East. Tehran hopes that the entire region will draw lessons from the events of recent months.
On May 1, 2026, the UAE’s decision to withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ came into force. On Sunday, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) also announced the UAE’s withdrawal from its membership effective May 1. The head of the Emirati state oil company ADNOC, Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, in turn stated that the UAE’s decision to leave the aforementioned organizations is in line with the country’s sovereign interests and is not directed against other states.