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Iran is trying to give the global economy a “heart attack” with its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, United Arab Emirates official Lana Nusseibeh told on Wednesday.
The crucial energy causeway’s closure has disrupted the flow of gas and oil across the globe in a war Nusseibeh said her country didn’t ask for. The UAE has continued to weather Iranian missile and drone attacks as part of Iran’s regional retaliation.
“What happens in the Gulf clearly doesn’t stay in the Gulf,” Nusseibeh, who is her country’s minister of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on “Special Report.”
“Iran’s attack on Gulf allies of the United States and Jordan is an attack on the entire world,” she continued.
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“We’ve always tried the diplomatic channel with Iran,” she said. “We’ve tried it for decades.”
The minister said she traveled to Tehran in early February to negotiate with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in what were then reported as “useful and constructive talks.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, waits for the arrival of his Qatari counterpart before their meeting in Tehran on Aug. 26, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The Emirati diplomatic official said the United States’ concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles and support of non-state terrorist actors in the region were “well-understood” by Dubai, but Iran took an “irresponsible decision.”
“Instead of negotiating over those issues, they chose instead to fire over 2,200 missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates,” she said.
“Eighty-nine percent of their targets have been civilian infrastructure in my country,” Nusseibeh added. “This has to stop.”
Chart shows Iranian ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones launched at the UAE between Feb. 28 and March 24, according to the Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats project. (Courtesy of ISW)
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“The question is, ‘Why?’” Nusseibeh continued. “The answer is because we are an idea that threatens Iran.”
The UAE was one of the initial signing members of the Abraham Accords, a treaty signed during the first Trump administration pursuing normalization and diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors.
Bahrain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump and United Arab Emirates Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“We are open, we are progressive, we are tolerant, we’re a vibrant economy,” she said. “And what have they done for their people with the resources that they have?”
chief political anchor Bret Baier also asked Nusseibeh her opinion on the war’s timeline and the potential for the UAE to get involved offensively.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that “talks continue” between the United States and Iran, despite reports of Iran’s rejection of a U.S. peace proposal and the subsequent U.S.-Israeli rejection of Tehran’s counter-proposal.
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Emirati Amb. to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba cautioned that a “simple cease-fire isn’t enough” in a Wall Street Journal opinion article.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been pushing President Donald Trump to continue the war in Iran until the regime is toppled, previously reported.
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“The UAE is always for a diplomatic off-ramp,” Nusseibeh said. “But we need to use diplomacy when Iran understands that its behavior as a rogue actor is not acceptable.”
“The light at the end of the tunnel is in Iran’s hands,” she noted earlier in the interview.
