UAE Urges Iran Not to 'Overplay Hand' in Fragile Strait of Hormuz Talks

The United States and Iran have just a "50-50" chance of reaching a diplomatic breakthrough that would safely reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, a senior United Arab Emirates official warned on Friday.

Presidential adviser Anwar Gargash strongly urged Tehran not to overplay its strategic hand during the highly fragile ceasefire following the recent Middle East war.

Speaking at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague, Gargash observed that Iranian officials "have missed a lot of chances over the years because there's a tendency to overestimate their cards," adding bluntly, "I hope they don't do that this time."

The oil-rich UAE, which hosts vital US military facilities, found itself directly in the crosshairs during the peak of the hostilities. 

Gargash revealed that the country was targeted by roughly 3,300 drones and missiles during 40 days of intense warfare that erupted on February 28. 

Thanks to sophisticated defense networks, only about four percent of those incoming projectiles successfully penetrated UAE airspace.

Gargash emphasized that the Iran-blockaded Strait of Hormuz—which normally facilitates the passage of a fifth of the world's total oil production—must swiftly return to normal operations. 

He explicitly cautioned international mediators against settling for an inconclusive or superficial truce.

"Negotiations just to reach a ceasefire and sow the seeds for further conflict in the future is not what we're seeking," Gargash explained. 

"And I think that the Strait of Hormuz clearly has to go back to the status quo and this should be an international waterway."

While US negotiators remain intensely focused on preventing Iran from developing an atomic weapon, the immediate threat landscape has dramatically shifted for neighboring Gulf states.

"The Iranian nuclear program was our second or third worry, now it's our first worry," Gargash stated transparently, reflecting on the sheer scale of the recent regional bombardment. 

"We see that Iran is capable of using any weapon that it has in its hands, which is what we learned."

Source: AFP