United Nations: A senior UAE official warned European powers on Tuesday that they were offering Iran a glimmer of hope by trying to keep trade flowing, but that ultimately they would fall behind the United States’ tough approach on Tehran.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain swiftly backed US President Donald Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from a 2015 international accord with Iran that curbed Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for loosening economic sanctions.
The Gulf states are at loggerheads with Iran, fighting a proxy war that has influenced conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash told Reuters at the United Nations General Assembly he was concerned by the public differences between the remaining European signatories to the accord — France, Britain and Germany — and the United States. All of them agree that Iran’s long-term nuclear activities should be curbed, its ballistic missile programme curbed and its regional influence reigned in.
“The faster we can bridge those opinions the better,” Gargash said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday the European efforts would not change the mind of companies that had already left Iran, but would try to provide some economic benefits to Tehran.
“Unfortunately the current disagreement over approach is not helpful and it is giving Iran a sort of lifeline and hope that it can skirt the various concerns that everyone has about Iran,” Gargash said.
He said he believed that Trump’s pressure policy that will see tougher sanctions restored on November 5 would yield results and that within a year Iran could be at the negotiating table.