Live updates: Follow the latest news on Iran war
Neither the US nor Iran want to return to war, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, told an international forum on Friday, adding that he believed negotiations between the two sides would resume.
"I think both parties don't really want to go back to war," he told the World Policy Conference in France, speaking through a video link.
The US had found a "very effective" way of hurting Iran without returning to fighting by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, Dr Gargash said, but Iran has responded by attacking ships in the strategic waterway.
These attacks on vessels reinforce Iran's image as a "pariah", he added. Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have seized and fired on ships in the Hormuz strait in recent days.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the American navy to "shoot and kill" any boat-laying mines, and instructed minesweepers to work “at a tripled-up level” to clear the sea lane vital to the world economy. Iran, meanwhile, said a fleet of small, agile boats was waiting to attack US vessels in the strait.
Any operation is unlikely to be carried out until the US and Israel's war with Iran reaches a complete end, with a push for new peace talks remaining stalled in Islamabad.
"I put my money on the resumption of negotiations to be honest," Dr Gargash said, warning that this did not necessarily guarantee their success. Pakistani officials continue to be on standby amid reports talks could restart soon.
While a resumption in negotiations would be in the "interest of the region", Dr Gargash stressed that Iran will continue to pose a significant security threat to the Gulf. Regional relations with Iran "are bound to come back at some stage", but building trust and confidence "are different", he added.
"Iran will be seen as a strategic threat from the region's perspective for many decades to come – this is independent of the nature of relations that will have to be rebuilt," Dr Gargash said.
"The attack on Iran was an American-Israeli attack, but Iran chose to enlarge the war and include the region. We were attacked in the United Arab Emirates with more missiles and drones than Israel."
The UAE intercepted 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles and 2,256 drones since Iran began its daily attacks on February 28. The attacks martyred two UAE Armed Forces personnel and a Moroccan civilian contractor. Ten civilians were also killed and more than 220 injured.
Iran, as well as proxy Iraqi militia groups, launched hundreds of attacks on Gulf states during the war that broke out on February 28. The US-Israeli strikes on Iran killed a number of top-level military and political figures, including the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Dr Gargash described the current Iranian leadership as "disjointed", adding that a statement issued from the country denying such a state of affairs was a "clear indication that [Iran] looks at that as a serious concern".
Mr Trump this week described the Iranian regime as being "seriously fractured" as a result of the war, pointing to this as the reason for initial reluctance in Tehran to take part in the Islamabad talks.
On Thursday, several Iranian officials said their nation was united, rejecting Mr Trump's claims. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted the same message of unity on their social media.
