United Arab Emirates Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh said Wednesday that Iran is trying to give the global economy a “heart attack” by closing the Strait of Hormuz, and that the move has disrupted the flow of gas and oil worldwide, she told Fox News.
Speaking on the program “Special Report,” Nusseibeh said the UAE has endured Iranian missile and drone attacks as part of Tehran’s regional retaliation. She told Fox News that Iran fired more than 2,200 missiles and drones at the UAE and that 89% of the strikes targeted civilian infrastructure.
Nusseibeh said the UAE has pursued diplomacy with Iran for decades. She said she traveled to Tehran in early February to meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in talks she described as “useful and constructive,” and that U.S. concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles and support for nonstate actors were “well-understood” by Dubai.
She said Iran chose an “irresponsible decision” instead of negotiations and warned that the conflict reaches beyond the Gulf. “What happens in the Gulf clearly doesn’t stay in the Gulf,” Nusseibeh said, adding that attacks on Gulf allies of the United States and Jordan amount to an attack on the entire world.
Nusseibeh reiterated that the UAE favors a diplomatic off-ramp but said diplomacy must follow a change in Iranian behavior. “The light at the end of the tunnel is in Iran’s hands,” she said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that “talks continue” between the United States and Iran, and Emirati Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba cautioned in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that a “simple cease-fire isn’t enough,” Nusseibeh noted.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
