Bank in Dubai Says It Cut Ties With Iranian Institutions LONDON - An Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that it "took pre-emptive action" to end business relationships with some Iranian banks when it learned that the United States planned to apply economic sanctions against those banks. The episode appeared to be related to efforts by the Obama administration to tighten a noose of economic restrictions in the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Western leaders suspect the program is designed to give Tehran the capability to produce nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that it is enriching uranium for civilian purposes. The decision by the Noor Islamic Bank, based in Dubai, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said pressure from Washington had forced the bank to close off Iran's biggest single channel for repatriating foreign currency oil income. In a statement issued in response to the article, a spokesperson for Noor Islamic Bank said: "As a U.A.E. bank we comply with all U.A.E. Central Bank and U.A.E. government directives and international regulations, including those emanating from the U.N., regarding sanctions on Iran." When we became aware, in December 2011, that unilateral U.S. sanctions were to be applied against a number of Iranian banks we took pre-emptive action to end our business relationships with Iranian banks licensed in the U.A.E. The statement did not refer specifically to American pressure and the spokesperson, who declined to be identified by name, said no further comment would be made. Earlier, Reuters later quoted Khalid al-Ghaith, the U.A.E."s assistant foreign minister for economic affairs, as saying Washington's action was limited to s single bank. "They were just talking about Noor Islamic Bank," he said. He added, "We are still working with the U.S. government and continue discussing to protect our bank sector and companies and continue this dialogue. This is what we are doing as a government," Reuters reported. On its Web site, Noor Islamic Banks says it was founded in 2007 in Dubai and "is a full service bank delivering the broadest range of products for its customers, with an emphasis on unique and personalized services." Noor Islamic Bank's products and services are governed by a Sharia Board, comprising leading Islamic scholars with extensive experience and expertise in legal, financial and banking-related matters. Noor Islamic Bank has locations across the U.A.E. in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and has a representative office in Tunisia which is managed out of Dubai. The Noor Islamic Bank is partly owned by the local government of Dubai, a close United States ally, The Journal said, and its chairman, identified on the bank's Web site as Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, is a son of Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum