Middle East needs long-term solution, UAE says ahead of US-Iran crisis talks
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Diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, Mr Anwar Gargash, said he would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DUBAI - Regional power United Arab Emirates (UAE) urged Iran and the United States on Feb 3 to use the resumption of nuclear talks this week to resolve a stand-off that has led to mutual threats of air strikes, emphasising that the Middle East does not need another war.
Iran and the US will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme on Feb 6 in Turkey
US President Donald Trump said that with big US warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
Tehran’s view of the talks is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, an Iranian diplomatic source told Reuters on Feb 3, adding that the Islamic republic’s defensive capabilities are non-negotiable and that it is ready for any scenario.
“It remains to be seen whether the United States also intends to conduct serious, result-oriented negotiations or not,” the source said.
Iranian sources have said Mr Trump is also seeking to limit Iran’s ballistic missile programme, which Iranian officials say is an essential component of the country’s defence.
Earlier, the UAE, a highly influential Gulf Arab oil producer and close US ally, said the region could not afford another conflict.
“I think that the region has gone through various calamitous confrontations,” the UAE President’s adviser Anwar Gargash told a panel at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
“I don’t think we need another one, but I would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don’t have these issues every other day.”
Iran should rebuild its relationship with Washington to reach a wider geo-strategic deal which could help Tehran repair its economy ravaged by US sanctions, Mr Gargash said.
Iran fears U.S. strike might imperil rule, sources say
Gulf Arab states are worried that Iran will carry out its threat to target US bases on their territory should Mr Trump attack the Islamic republic again.
In June 2025, the US struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in at the close of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign. Since then, Tehran has said its uranium enrichment work – which it says is for peaceful and not military purposes – has stopped.
Recent satellite imagery of two of the targeted sites, Isfahan and Natanz, appears to show new roofing over two previously destroyed buildings, according to imagery provided by imaging company Planet Labs and reviewed by Reuters, which showed no other signs of rebuilding.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will meet in Istanbul to try to revive diplomacy over the long-running dispute about Iran’s nuclear programme and dispel fears of a new regional war.
A regional diplomat said representatives from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would also participate.
The US naval build-up near Iran follows a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations
Mr Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast.
He said last week Iran was “seriously talking”, while Tehran’s top security official Ali Larijani said arrangements for negotiations were under way.
The priority of the talks in Istanbul is to avoid any conflict and de-escalate tensions, a regional official told Reuters on Feb 3. Regional powers including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the UAE were also invited to the foreign minister-level talks, he said.
Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, according to six current and former officials.
In high-level meetings, officials told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that public anger over January’s crackdown – the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution – has reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent, four current officials briefed on the discussions said.
Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Mr Trump had demanded three conditions for resumption of talks: zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and ending its support for regional proxies.
Iran has long said all three demands are unacceptable infringements on its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters its clerical rulers saw the ballistic missile programme, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.
One Iranian official said: “Diplomacy is ongoing. For talks to resume, Iran says there should not be preconditions and that it is ready to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400kg of highly enriched uranium, accepting zero enrichment under a consortium arrangement as a solution.”
Tehran’s regional sway has been weakened by Israel’s attacks on its proxies – from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq – as well as by the ousting of Iran’s close ally, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS
