UAE says two missiles detected earlier launched from Iran

Iranian FM spokesperson rejected UAE's statements, calling them "baseless"

The United Arab Emirates' defence ministry said on Tuesday that it had detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, the first such incident reported since a May 4 strike on the Fujairah port.

In a statement later, the ministry said the missiles targeted "maritime traffic" based on its assessments. Both missiles fell into the sea, it said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected early on Wednesday the statement by the UAE, describing it as "baseless."

In a statement issued after the missile threat, the UAE said it had suspended all trade activities, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, citing an escalation that it said undermined regional and international peace and security.

Read: Tehran accuses US of 'squeezing Iran' in effort to wrest concessions

The missile launch comes as a 60-day window for US-Iranian peace talks expired on Monday without a breakthrough, raising fears of a new escalation in the conflict that has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since February.

"The defence ministry affirms its full readiness to deal with any threats and firmly confront anything that aims to destabilise the state's security," it said in a statement.

The UAE's interior ministry sent a phone alert earlier on Tuesday to residents stating that the situation was safe and people should resume normal activities after an earlier alert warning of a missile threat.

The UAE had accused Iran recently of attacking its state-owned ADNOC vessels while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on ADNOC vessels. Iran's Revolutionary Guards have previously ​threatened action against vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran's adversaries ​or fail to comply with Iranian directives.

US, UAE discuss regional security, Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone Tuesday with United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan about regional security, the State Department said.

"The two discussed several regional security issues, including Lebanon, as well as continued US-UAE coordination to hold Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable for ongoing attacks," the department said in a statement.

During the call, Rubio underscored the importance of freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the statement said.

Read more: Iran threatens to go on offensive in Strait of Hormuz if diplomacy with US fails

Earlier on Tuesday, the UAE suspended all trade exchanges and financial transactions with Iran "until further notice" after saying that Iran fired two ballistic missiles towards the Gulf state.

Cargo ship hit by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s west coast: UKMTO

A cargo ship was struck by multiple unidentified projectiles off Yemen’s western coast, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said Tuesday.

UKMTO said it received a report of the incident about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) southeast of Mokha.

The vessel was unmanned at the time of the incident, but the damage resulted in a “complete constructive loss,” it said.

Authorities are investigating the incident.

UKMTO urged vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity.