UAE says hoping for breakthrough yet 'braced for the worst' in Iran-US war

MANAMA: The UAE is hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the United States while being prepared for the worst, a senior official said on Sunday, following threats of a resumption of the Middle East war.

“We’re hoping that there is a diplomatic breakthrough,” diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president Anwar Gargash said during a conference in Manama.

“It is not the interest of the region to go through another round… But I think we’re also, as we’ve shown before, braced for the worst.”

Following a visit to Tehran this week by a Qatari delegation, Iran has dispatched envoys to the Gulf country to continue consultations as part of indirect negotiations with the US to end the war.

But US President Donald Trump reiterated his threats on Saturday, saying the United States still has to “take care of” one or two targets in Iran.

“We just can’t allow Iran to take this region and the global economy hostage,” US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Donald Blome said at the Manama conference on Sunday.

“The hand of negotiation has been extended, and those channels have continued to be open and active at the same time,” Blome said. “We’ve been also prepared to go in another direction.”

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump has not made a decision about fresh strikes on Iran and that the US would be open to a diplomatic solution.

The war began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which retaliated by targeting, among others, Gulf countries allied with Washington.