Interview made available for publication by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Bucharest
Becky Anderson
I want to bring in Anwar Gargash, Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the United Arab Emirates. Thank you for joining us here on an incredibly important and quite frankly worrying day for the region and for residents of the region. Your response to the missile attacks here and around the region earlier.
HE Dr. Anwar Gargash
Thank you, Becky, thank you very much. It is indeed a historic moment. A historic moment filled with a lot of challenges, Becky, and especially here for us here in the UAE as many other countries. I mean we worked very hard and sincerely to avoid this scenario, to avert a war. This has been part of our diplomacy for a very long time, in various conversations with Americans, Iranians and indeed with the Israelis that war will not resolve things and that the path forward is negotiations.
Unfortunately, Becky, this has been a recurring threat to the region. The whole issue with nuclear capability of Iran as well as missile and regional policy… but even if it is such a complicated issue, there is no real military solution for this. And I think today as we see the beginning of a war that we don’t really understand the contours of… I think it will take some time for us to understand the contours… I think we continue to really call for a negotiated political solution. There is a need to go back to the negotiating table, the region has seen a lot of wars in the past decade and especially in the last two years. The current hostilities that we are seeing are not part of the solution and a return to the negotiating table is important.
While I say that, Becky, also I have to really condemn in the strongest terms really the Iranian aggression on the UAE and the Gulf countries.
Becky Anderson
Can I ask you, Dr. Anwar Gargash. Was the UAE given any heads up of this, as described by the US President, as a massive military operation?
HE Dr. Anwar Gargash
No, I think like every other country the expectation of war was looming clearer and clearer based on really the outcome of the negotiations. But again, as we came closer to the outcome and as you know these negotiations had different interpretations, some quite optimistic and others pessimistic. I think when we came closer to what I would call cul de sac really of the negotiations in Geneva, it was I think expected that we will see the moment that we’ve all dreaded to be honest. That we have (all) worked very, very hard to avert.
I think this is also part of it, I mean as I condemn Iranian aggression on the UAE and Gulf states, I think really the attacks on Iran’s neighbours by Iran is very ill advised.
Becky Anderson
Do you expect to see GCC retaliation and also what of the not explicit regime change charged by the US President but certainly an appeal for the Iranian people to rise up and take over their government?
HE Dr. Anwar Gargash
I mean again, you know, Iran’s future direction, its feat, is something for the Iranians to decide. I don’t think it is appropriate for me to speculate on that.
Our part is to work together with the United States, with neighbours like Iran, in order to ensure the stability and security of the region. Clearly, this time we have failed. But again, even we are in the throes of a war that, as I said, we don’t really totally understand how it will develop. It’s too early to tell. I think, again, the UAE calls clearly for a return to negotiations. We’re extremely, extremely dismayed and condemn Iran’s enlargement of this conflict in order to include neighbours that have worked very, very hard in order to avert this moment. But I think at the same time, we all understand that the region has to be spared a military confrontation of dimensions that we don’t totally understand as of today.
And I think this is really what we are pushing forward. We don’t understand I think… in the next few days it will be a little bit clearer. So our emphasis in the UAE is twofold: On the first front, is to really come and say let us u-turn back to negotiations and the political process. And I think you will see that this is the collective view of the region. It is the UAE’s view but also the collective view of the region.
I think the second emphasis for us is to protect the UAE and I think here also we are dealing with these challenges. We are I think in good shape with emergency plans in place, our air defences have done a great job. We will continue to protect the UAE and everybody living here… and these are our priorities here today. So I think we are moving on both fronts but as you understand, the events also around us are… it is a larger storm so to speak and I think the voice of the region is one of calm, of rationality, that the region does not really need another war, further military confrontation.
Dear Mr. Simileanu,
We would highly appreciate your support in disseminating the two interviews of high ranking UAE representatives: HE Reem Al Hashimy- Ministry of State for International Cooperation and HE Dr. Anwar Gargash- Diplomatic Adviser of HE the President of the UAE. Kindly find attached the transcriptions of the interviews.
Additionally, you can find below statements from different UAE entities, relevant for the current situation developing in the UAE and Middle East, should your collaborators and colleagues from Geopolitica magazine need to use them:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: https://x.com/mofauae?s=21&t= zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
Ministry of Defence: https://x.com/modgovae?s=21&t= zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
https://www.wam.ae/en/article/ 173jo13-uae-air-defences- intercept-137-missiles-209- drones
https://www.wam.ae/en/article/ byzgpgf-uae-air-defences- intercept-165-ballistic-two
Ministry of Interior: https://x.com/moiuae?s=21&t= zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
UAE Public Prosecution: https://x.com/uae_pp?s=21&t= zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
Abudhabi Media Office: https://x.com/admediaoffice?s= 21&t=zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
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https://x.com/dxbmediaoffice/ status/2027866024318767134?s= 46&t=pT5XWNTfu8QwuJnPY6ZZHw
National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority: https://x.com/ncemauae?s=21&t= zTtNGutPf6RGUeV7YSz9wg
Abu Dhabi Airports: https://x.com/ad_airports/ status/2027880818434060660?s= 46&t=pT5XWNTfu8QwuJnPY6ZZHw
https://x.com/ad_airports/ status/2027889161315750260?s= 46&t=pT5XWNTfu8QwuJnPY6ZZHw
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