The UAE said it wants to see direct talks between Iran and the US, arguing that diplomacy, not another showdown, is urgently needed to defuse regional tension.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai about the risk of renewed conflict between Tehran and US President Donald Trump's administration, Dr Anwar Gargash said the region could not afford another confrontation.
“I don’t know what’s going on in President Trump’s mind, but I can give you the view from the region, the view from the UAE," he told attendees. “I think the region has gone through various, various climactic confrontations. I don’t think we need another one,” he said, adding that the UAE would like to see "direct Iranian-American negotiations, leading to understandings.”
Dr Gargash said unresolved disputes between Tehran and Washington have repeatedly destabilised the region, urging for the nuclear issue to be "addressed directly".
The US and Iran will resume nuclear talks in Turkey on Friday, Iranian and American officials said. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet in Istanbul in an attempt to reach an agreement over Iran's nuclear programme, Reuters reported.
When asked about the prospect of a deal, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House that talks were happening. “We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones – the biggest and the best – and we have talks going on with Iran, and we'll see how it all works out," he said.
"If we can work something out, that would be great and if we can't, probably bad things would happen."
Mr Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to strike Iran in support of protesters last month, has since demanded that Tehran make nuclear concessions. Last week, he warned Iran that it faced a "far worse" attack than last year's US strikes against its nuclear sites unless it began talks.
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that reaching a lasting deal with Iran while the country remains under clerical rule is “unimaginable”.
“To think that there’s a long-term solution that actually provides stability and peace to this region while the Ayatollah is still in power is something I pray for, but find unimaginable,” said Mr Pompeo, who has long been a vocal critic of Iran’s leadership and was a key architect of Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
While expressing hope for peace, Mr Pompeo, who was speaking during a panel discussion with Dr Gargash, made clear he saw Iran’s current system of governance as fundamentally incompatible with durable regional stability.
Gaza
Meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire in Gaza remains another critical pillar in efforts to achieve broader regional stability.
The second phase of Mr Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza is now underway. It establishes a technocratic Palestinian committee to govern the strip and begins the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of the enclave, as well as deploying an international peacekeeping force in Gaza.
Talk of “boots on the ground” in the enclave must be rooted in agreement and consensus among all key players, otherwise those boots risk being "a lone player", said Dr Gargash.
He added that the scale of destruction in Gaza demanded co-ordinated international action and a clear political horizon. “We all need to work together in Gaza in order to come out of an aftermath that has been a total disaster,” he said, adding that any exit strategy must be political.
The way forward, he said, lies in “addressing Palestinian statehood and Israeli security at the same time".
Asked about his country's role, he said: "We don't have what I would call a UAE agenda in Gaza," underlining that any role would have to be collective.
“We have to work with the Palestinians, we have to work with the Egyptians, the Israelis, the Jordanians and of course, an American leadership is key for achieving a sort of I won't say sustainable solution at this time, but moving on with part two of President Trump's plan and hopefully looking at a brighter landscape," he said.
The UAE denied on Monday "unfounded claims" that it will assume civilian administration of Gaza. Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation, said the country “has repeatedly reaffirmed that Gaza’s governance and administration are the responsibility of the Palestinian people”.
'Noise and reality'
Dr Gargash dismissed online attacks against the UAE as largely manufactured, saying the country will mute the noise and press ahead with its innovative and ambitious agenda.
“We have to separate noise from reality,” Dr Gargash said. “I think that if you look at a lot of the anti rhetoric, it's really a potpourri of different excuses for our regional role, our economic success, our programme of diversity.
“If you go a little bit step higher than social media, you don't see so much of that."
Despite that, he said the country’s direction would not change. “I think the UAE will actually continue to be a trailblazer in the region," he said.
He added that the UAE would continue championing peace in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords and other means, while also “addressing extremism, whether it's from the Muslim Brotherhood or others".
With such an agenda, he said, criticism was inevitable.
“Now, if you have a program like that, ambitious and forward-looking, then expect a lot of criticism. So you either do the right thing, or you can dig a hole and stay in your hole. So we will not dig a hole and stay in the hole. We will do the right thing."
