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One UAE member, Abu Dhabi, has a prolonged territorial dispute with Iran, but this has rarely disrupted the hum of Iranian commerce with another emirate, Dubai.

Those contradictions are becoming harder to sustain as the United States and its European allies impose unilateral sanctions over Iran's nuclear policy that go well beyond new measures decreed by the U.N. Security Council on June 9.

The UAE has begun curbing Dubai's lucrative, free-wheeling role as a trading and financial lifeline for Iran, a policy that could prove costly for the Islamic Republic -- and for a Dubai economy already hit by debt woes and a burst property bubble.

The UAE Central Bank has told financial institutions to freeze the accounts of 40 entities and an individual blacklisted by the United Nations for assisting Iran's nuclear or missile programs, a banking source in Abu Dhabi said on Monday.

Mounting pressure from the United States, the UAE's main military ally and protector, may be one reason for the action.