Middle East needs long-term solution, UAE says ahead of US-Iran crisis talks

The Middle East does not need another confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, and Tehran needs to reach a nuclear deal with Washington, the diplomatic adviser to the president of regional power United Arab Emirates said at a World Governments Summit panel in Dubai.

Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump warned that with big U.S. warships heading to Iran, "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

The UAE, a highly influential Gulf Arab power, said a long-term solution was needed.

"I think that the region has gone through various calamitous confrontations. I don't think we need another one, but I would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don't have these issues every other day," the UAE president's advisor Anwar Gargash said.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will meet in Istanbul in an effort to revive diplomacy over a long-running dispute about Iran's nuclear program and dispel fears of a new regional war. A regional diplomat said representatives from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would also participate.

The U.S. naval buildup near Iran follows a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.

Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast. He said last week Iran was "seriously talking", while Tehran's top security official Ali Larijani said arrangements for negotiations were under way.

The UAE, a major regional trade and business hub, has consistently called for de-escalation and political solutions to conflicts across the Middle East and beyond, advocating dialogue as the primary tool for regional stability.

Addressing public debate surrounding regional issues, Gargash noted that online discourse often fluctuates rapidly and should be viewed in context. He stressed the importance of distinguishing between sustained policy positions and shifting digital narratives.

“The volume and focus of online commentary change quickly,” Gargash said, adding that such trends should not distract from on-the-ground realities or long-term diplomatic efforts.