UAE adviser says trust with Iran will take years to rebuild

Trust between the United Arab Emirates and Iran will take years to rebuild, according to a senior UAE presidential adviser who spoke in Dubai on Thursday. Dr Anwar Gargash said the two countries must continue to maintain relations because they are neighbours, but he drew a clear distinction between keeping channels open and restoring confidence. His remarks came against the backdrop of attacks on Gulf states and wider regional security tensions.

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Gargash made the comments at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai. He said the UAE was managing the current crisis while also assessing the future of its relationship with Tehran. He said the country's approach rested on three elements: defending sovereignty, remaining flexible, and preserving economic development through the crisis.

He also referred to the UAE president's visit to Germany as an example of keeping the economy moving. The adviser said he had previously said UAE confidence in Iran was broken, but that he had meant trust and relations were not the same thing. He said the UAE should keep communication open with Iran through dialogue that could deal with day-to-day issues.

At the same time, he said confidence-building would take years and that the regional security environment had suffered a collapse. He also said Iran's use of proxy militias had kept it close to the aggression. The comments matter because the UAE and Iran have long had a complicated relationship shaped by geography, trade and security concerns.

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Gargash said the countries are "geographically neighbours" and that the UAE would have to find new channels of understanding. He also said the Gulf states would be the parties to help broker Iran's return to its international place in trade and commerce once the attacks stopped. That places the UAE in a position of trying to balance deterrence, diplomacy and economic continuity.

Gargash also said the Iranian president had described aggression against Gulf Cooperation Council countries as a major mistake. He called it a geostrategic mistake that had created a more complex situation for Iran and could affect its future. He added that Iran could not negotiate a new future while still threatening and acting aggressively toward its neighbours.

The remarks suggest Abu Dhabi is signalling that dialogue remains possible, but only if regional pressure eases. It was not immediately clear whether the UAE has taken any financial or political measures against Iran, and Gargash said it had not. The comments did not include any new policy announcement, but they did set out the UAE's current public position on relations with Tehran.

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