Newsletters
The United Arab Emirates is hoping for a diplomatic breakthrough between Iran and the U.S. while preparing for the possibility of renewed conflict, senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash said Sunday.
“We’re hoping that there is a diplomatic breakthrough,” Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a conference in Manama.
“It is not the interest of the region to go through another round,” he said. “But I think we’re also, as we’ve shown before, braced for the worst.”
His remarks came as indirect negotiations continued between Tehran and Washington following a visit to Iran this week by a Qatari delegation.
Iran later sent envoys to Qatar to continue consultations aimed at ending the war.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Donald Blome said at the Manama conference that Washington remained open to negotiations while also preparing for other possibilities.
“We just can’t allow Iran to take this region and the global economy hostage,” Blome said.
“The hand of negotiation has been extended, and those channels have continued to be open and active at the same time,” he said. “We’ve been also prepared to go in another direction.”
U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his warnings Saturday, saying the U.S. still had to “take care of” one or two targets in Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Trump had not decided whether to order fresh strikes and that Washington remained open to a diplomatic solution.
The conflict began Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iran retaliated by targeting several sites, including in Gulf countries allied with Washington.
Gargash said another round of fighting would not be in the region’s interest while stressing that the UAE was prepared for the possibility.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
