The UAE will accelerate efforts to reduce its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz following the Iran war, advancing its “Zero Hormuz” strategy to diversify trade routes and supply chains, while stressing that the waterway will remain important, an adviser at the office of the Foreign Minister said.
Mohammed Al Dhaheri, former director of the Strategy and Future Department at the UAE Foreign Ministry, said the strategy predates the war, but the current crisis will intensify the nation’s push to develop alternative routes, including through expanded port capacity, rail connectivity and new economic corridors. The Strait of Hormuz will nevertheless remain important to the UAE, the wider Gulf and the international system, he added.
“Zero Hormuz means … we will expedite the efforts to have different sorts of routes and double down on investments in different sorts of ports like Khor Fakkan and Al Fujairah, [and] add to that the connectivity when it comes to Etihad Rail,” Mr Al Dhaheri told The National on the sidelines of the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi.
“The Strait of Hormuz will remain of importance … and we still insist on the freedom of navigation [under] international law and on the Strait of Hormuz going back to the status before the war,” added Mr Al Dhaheri, who is also the deputy director general of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.
Before the Iran war, about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited the waterway. Iran followed through on its threat to block the strait, and the disruption sent energy prices soaring and sparked a global economic crisis.
The waterway's status remains a central obstacle in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan. Tehran claims the strait belongs to Iran and Oman – a position Gulf states broadly reject.
Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, said at the same forum on Tuesday that the UAE had established regional logistics corridors linking the Arabian Gulf to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman, and was working with Omani authorities to process UAE-bound cargo through the ports of Sohar and Duqm.
The UAE is also building a new pipeline to provide additional capacity for exporting Abu Dhabi oil via the Gulf of Oman.
The ongoing expansion builds on a plan outlined by Dr Al Zeyoudi in June to reduce the UAE’s dependence on Hormuz to “zero”, regardless of whether the waterway reopens. At the time, he said the country would expand its eastern ports, and develop pipelines, road and rail links to connect them with oilfields, gasfields and petroleum facilities.
The Iran war has had a significant impact on Gulf states, including the UAE, after Tehran fired missiles at the country and attacked its oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Al Dhaheri said a permanent rather than a temporary solution is needed to address the crisis. “We have certain concerns that Iranians need to address in order to reach that comprehensive agreement,” he said.
“GCC countries are influential countries, economically, politically, diplomatically. We have an extended sort of a network, and we are influential within the region and beyond the region. So Iran should look at us from that angle.”
Diversifying alliances
The UAE will also broaden its security and defence partnerships following the conflict, building on a wider policy of diversifying its political and economic relationships, the diplomat said.
The shift will extend beyond partnerships with other countries to include expanding the UAE’s domestic military and defence industry, while the conflict could also lead to discussions among GCC countries about new regional security dynamics, he said.
“This crisis, as a lesson learnt, we will go hugely diversifying our security relations. That doesn’t mean we’ll go far from the US. The US is a strategic partner. We’ll double down on our relations with the US,” he said.
