‘A simple ceasefire isn’t enough’: UAE envoy to US urges ‘conclusive outcome’ to Iran war

The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States calls for a “conclusive outcome” to the war with Iran, arguing that a “simple ceasefire isn’t enough.”

The assertions by Yousef al-Otaiba in a Wall Street Journal op-ed confirm The Times of Israel’s reporting from last week about how most Gulf states are urging the US to continue striking Iran after cautioning against launching the war in the first place.

“A simple ceasefire isn’t enough. We need a conclusive outcome that addresses Iran’s full range of threats: nuclear capabilities, missiles, drones, terror proxies and blockades of international sea lanes,” Otaiba writes.

“This isn’t a war we wanted. Until hours before the first strike, Emirati officials undertook intensive diplomatic efforts from Tehran to Washington,” he says. “We knew we would be Iran’s first choice of targets.”

Explaining the Emirati rationale for continuing the war, Otaiba says, “More needs to be done to remove the missile and drone threats. And we are ready to join an international initiative to reopen the strait and keep it open.”

“We want Iran as a normal neighbor. It can be reclusive and even unwelcoming, but it can’t attack its neighbors, blockade international waters, or export extremism. Building a fence around the problem and wishing it goes away isn’t the answer. It would simply defer the next crisis,” the UAE ambassador adds.