DUBAI, Feb 3 - Regional power United Arab Emirates urged Iran and the United States on Tuesday to use the resumption of nuclear talks this week to resolve a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes, emphasizing that the Middle East does not need another war.
Iran and the United States will discuss Iran's nuclear programme on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump said that with big U.S. warships heading to Iran, "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
A source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner would take part in the talks, along with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kushner's plans.
Ministers from other countries in the region are also expected to attend.
An Iranian diplomatic source said Tehran's view of the talks is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, adding that the Islamic Republic's defensive capabilities are non-negotiable and that it is ready for any scenario.
"It remains to be seen whether the United States also intends to conduct serious, result-oriented negotiations or not," the source said.Iranian sources have said Trump is also seeking to limit Iran's ballistic missile programme, which Iranian officials say is an essential component of the country's defence.
Earlier the UAE, a highly influential Gulf Arab oil producer and close U.S. ally, said the region cannot afford another conflict.
"I think that the region has gone through various calamitous confrontations," the UAE president's adviser Anwar Gargash told a panel at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
"I don't think we need another one, but I would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don't have these issues every other day."
Iran should rebuild its relationship with Washington to reach a wider geo-strategic deal which could help Tehran repair its economy ravaged by U.S. sanctions, Gargash said.
IRAN FEARS US STRIKE MIGHT IMPERIL RULE, SOURCES SAY
Gulf Arab states are worried that Iran will carry out its threat to target U.S. bases on their territory should Trump attack the Islamic Republic again.
In June, the United States struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in at the close of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign. Since then, Tehran has said its uranium enrichment work - which it says is for peaceful, not military purposes - has stopped.
Recent satellite imagery of two of the targeted sites, Isfahan and Natanz, appears to show new roofing over two destroyed buildings but no other signs of rebuilding, according to the imagery provided by Planet Labs and reviewed by Reuters.
The meeting in Istanbul aims to revive diplomacy over the long-running dispute about Iran's nuclear programme and dispel fears of a new regional war. The U.S. naval buildup near Iran follows a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month.