Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, addressed Friday the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz and the inability to rely on Iran.
Against the backdrop of the UAE’s dramatic withdrawal from OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Gargash wrote on X: “In the ongoing debate over the Strait of Hormuz, the collective international will and international law are the main guarantors of freedom of navigation in this vital waterway. Naturally, unilateral Iranian arrangements cannot be relied upon after its treacherous aggression against all its neighbors.”
Iranian drone strike in Dubai
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said today in Abu Dhabi that a U.S. plan to form a coalition to reopen the strait would not compete with a mission being advanced by France and Britain. Barrot, who has concluded a regional tour, said the Franco-British initiative is at an “advanced” stage and that dozens of countries have already said they will take part. He argued the U.S. project is not “of the same nature” as the European initiative, but rather complements it. In mid-April, several “non-belligerent” countries said they were willing to establish a “neutral mission” to secure the strait. French President Emmanuel Macron defined the goal at the time as “escorting and securing merchant vessels,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the force as “peaceful and defensive.”
A U.S. State Department official said yesterday the administration had asked its embassies to persuade allies to join an international coalition to secure the strait. The force, to be called the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC), would take steps to ensure safe passage, including providing real-time information, safety guidance and coordination.
In addition, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday that the White House is considering maintaining a blockade of Iran’s ports “for months if necessary,” while negotiations to end the war have stalled. In response to these developments, oil prices jumped yesterday to more than $125 a barrel. Gargash’s remarks came against the backdrop of Iran launching about 2,800 drones and missiles at the UAE during the war — more than at any other country, including Israel. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that, in light of these attacks and out of frustration over what its leaders saw as a lack of support from its Arab neighbors, the UAE has deepened its partnership with the United States — whose president, Donald Trump, praised the decision to leave OPEC — as well as with Israel.
The UAE has practical reasons for leaving OPEC, the cartel that has long dominated the global oil market. Production quotas constrain about 30% of its output capacity at a time when it could use the revenue to offset losses in tourism and business caused by the war. Leaving the organization also gives it the flexibility to significantly increase oil production on its own terms and to direct capital to securing its export routes by investing further in pipelines designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has almost completely closed.
The war with Iran has given the UAE an opportunity to step out of the shadow of its larger neighbor Saudi Arabia and to assert its ambitions as a regional power. According to officials familiar with the discussions, the UAE is also reassessing its ties with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of Muslim-majority countries. However, a UAE official said that, at this stage, no additional withdrawals are planned.