UAE official: ‘Iran can’t set the global price of gas and food’

“What happens in the Gulf doesn’t stay in the Gulf,” warns senior UAE official, who stresses that Iran’s actions threaten the global economy.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Emirati official has condemned repeated Iranian attacks on civilian infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates and denounced Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a deliberate attempt to harm the global economy.

Lana Nusseibeh, who serves as the United Arab Emirates’ permanent representative to the United Nations and holds a senior role in the country’s Foreign Ministry, spoke out about Iran’s actions since the outbreak of the war in an interview with Fox News.

“What happens in the Gulf doesn’t stay in the Gulf. Iran’s attack on Gulf allies of the U.S. and Jordan is an attack on the entire world, and the world economy, including its closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” she said, noting that 20% of the world’s oil and 30% of its fertilizer pass through the maritime route.

The closure of the critical chokepoint threatens to severely disrupt global supply chains and send the prices of essential goods soaring worldwide.

“Effectively, Iran is trying to give the world economy a heart attack. We should not allow Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, to set the global price for food and gas,” Nusseibeh stressed.

She noted that Iran has targeted the Emirates even more frequently than Israel — despite the UAE refraining from retaliatory strikes — and suggested the country is being singled out for what it represents.

“We are an idea that threatens Iran,” she said, referencing the UAE’s decision to normalize relations with Israel via the Abraham Accords agreement in 2020.

“We are open, we are progressive, we are tolerant, we’re a vibrant economy,” she added. “And what have they done for their people with the resources that they have?”

While expressing openness to a diplomatic resolution, Nusseibeh emphasized that a return to the prewar status quo would be unacceptable in light of unprecedented Iranian aggression.

“Eighty-nine percent of their targets have been civilian infrastructure in my country,” she added. “This has to stop.”