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Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, on Friday said the UAE would carefully assess its regional and international relations to “determine who can be relied upon”, in response to Iran’s attacks on the country.
The senior Emirati official said it was too early to learn lessons from what he described as “treacherous Iranian aggression”, but vowed that the UAE would seek to reinforce the concept of state that has been the foundation of its success.
A two-week conditional ceasefire, mediated by Pakistan, was announced shortly before 4am UAE time on Wednesday.
Negotiations between Iran and the US are due to be held on Saturday, but have been thrown into doubt after Iran said talks will not proceed unless the US upholds a ceasefire commitment over Lebanon.
The fragile truce has, however, raised hope that an end to hostilities can be secured, with Thursday the first day since the war began that the UAE's air defences did not have to deal with any missiles or drones launched by Iran.
“It is premature to draw lessons from the treacherous Iranian aggression, yet we proceed to entrench the concept of the state that has enshrined the success of the UAE and its model, and we work to enhance our ability to safeguard this homeland and defend it,” Dr Gargash wrote on X.
The country’s air defence systems have 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 killed and more than 220 injured.
“With the confidence of one who has triumphed over a perfidious assault, we will scrutinise the map of our regional and international relations with precision, and determine who can be relied upon, including the structuring of an economy and financial system that bolsters the resilience of our model," Dr Gargash added. “The rational review of our national priorities is our path to the future”
Dr Gargash stated last week that Iran’s approach to the war would only solidify the role of the US in the region. He told a group of journalists on Saturday that Iran’s strategy will strengthen “the American role in the Gulf, moving forward”. “It will not reduce it,” he added.
