UAE Calls on Iran to Start Talks Aimed at Reducing Tensions

Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, is appealing to Iran to begin negotiations to lower tensions with both neighbors and countries farther afield. “Further escalation at this point serves no one, and we strongly believe there is room for collective diplomacy to succeed,” Gargash said on Sunday during a speech delivered in Abu Dhabi. Since the US withdrew from a 2015 multilateral accord with Iran aimed at limiting the Islamic Republic’s reach for nuclear weapons, and reinstated the sanctions it had canceled as part of the deal, Tehran has begun walking back its own obligations, and is viewed as having ramped up attacks or harassment against neighboring countries and their commercial interests. “I believe there could be a path to a deal with Iran that all parties might soon be ready to embark on. It will be long, and patience and courage will be required,” Gargash added.