Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, has said attacks on Gulf Arab states “only deepened” Iran's predicament, after the US unveiled a sweeping set of new sanctions against Tehran.
He said it was time to move towards a political solution, after Iran’s attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on Gulf states failed to achieve their objectives.
“As the US-Iran confrontation enters a new phase marked by intensified economic pressure, an end to attempts to dominate the Strait of Hormuz, and moving beyond the memorandum of understanding stage, we reiterate that Iran’s aggression against the Arab Gulf states missed its target,” Dr Gargash wrote on X.
“It deepened Tehran’s predicament, constituted a grave strategic miscalculation, further isolated it and weakened its position.”
He said the path to de-escalation lies in working with Gulf Arab states towards finding a political solution.
“The way out of this war does not lie in targeting the Gulf Arab states, but in working with them to create the conditions for de-escalation and to seek a political way out of the war,” Dr Gargash added.
The US Treasury Department said overnight it was broadening the scope of secondary sanctions against companies and countries that do business with Iran.
It said every country would be given a deadline to shut down Iran-related activity and serve a final notice to cut its economic ties.
The UAE announced last week that it was severing trade and financial ties with Tehran. The announcement came after two Iranian missiles were fired at the Emirates and drone attacks on Adnoc-owned ships.
The UAE has been the target of repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28.
At least a dozen people have been killed and more than 200 have been injured in the Emirates during the conflict.
