The United Arab Emirates will not allow its airspace, territory, or territorial waters to be used for any hostile military action against Iran, the UAE Foreign Ministry said on Monday, reaffirming its commitment to neutrality and regional stability.
Uncertainty over the possibility of military action in Iran has lingered after US President Donald Trump said last week that an "armada" was heading towards the country but that he hoped he would not have to use it.
Trump's warnings to Tehran were against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear program.
Iran has been embroiled in protests, which rights groups say left thousands of people, including bystanders, killed. The rights groups describe the unrest as the biggest crackdown since Shi'ite Muslim clerics took power in the 1979 revolution.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman disuaded US from striking Iran
The ongoing tensions between the US and Iran skyrocketed ever since a report said that up to 20,000 people (now believed to be more than 30,000) were killed during the January crackdowns on Iranian protests.
The last time that the US seemed to be on the verge of attacking Iran, back on January 14, officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman worked “behind the scenes” to defuse tensions and prevent the escalation, a person with knowledge about the matter told The Jerusalem Post.
Egypt was also involved in the diplomatic efforts, Reuters reported, while the Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn also reported that US President Donald Trump informed Tehran that the US would not attack and asked it to exercise restraint, citing Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam.
Another report by N12 cited a Saudi official saying that the kingdom told Trump to opt for limited, focused military strikes and other actions instead of searching for regime change with its strikes in Iran.
An unmeasured move could achieve the opposite of any declared goal, playing into the hands of the regime, the source warned.
Amichai Stein, Sam Halpern, and James Genn contributed to this report.