Iran considers the recent US pressure on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to restrict trade with the Islamic Republic as "illegal" and it would jeopardize the region’s economy. This is against the spirit of the negotiations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with Iran to create a free-trade area between the GCC and Iran. It appears that as a result of US pressures the UAE announced a new law permitting it to ban or restrict shipments in the name of national security or on account of foreign policy considerations, upsetting the country’s business community, which does significant trade with Iran and other countries in the Middle East. Iran’s most widely circulated newspaper, Hamshahri, warned in its editorial that trade restrictions would hurt Iran, the UAE and other Middle East countries. US pressure for tougher trade laws is part of the Bush administration’s broader campaign to contain Iran amid tensions over what the US calls pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of the Iraqi insurgency.