Iran now seen as long-term threat across region, UAE’s Gargash says

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Friday Iran clearly emerged as the region’s “long-term threat” following its large-scale missile and drone attacks on Persian Gulf states during the latest Middle East war. Speaking via video conference at the World Policy Conference in Chantilly, France, Gargash said Iran fired around 2,800 missiles and drones at the UAE, with roughly 89% targeting civilians and critical energy infrastructure, and warned that rebuilding trust with Tehran after such attacks would take “ages and ages.”
Meawhile, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, head of Iran’s negotiating team with the United States, has stepped down amid internal disagreements, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International. Ghalibaf was reprimanded for attempting to include the nuclear issue in talks with Washington and was forced to resign, according to the sources. A possible shake-up has been floated, with hardline politician Saeed Jalili potentially replacing Ghalibaf as head of the negotiating team.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to introduce legislation to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the next parliamentary session, in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle. “In relation to malign state actors more generally, proscription, we do need legislation in order to take necessary measures, and that is legislation that we're bringing forward as soon as we can.” Starmer's pledge to ban Iran's IRGC comes at a time of growing concern about threats, intimidation, and violence affecting people linked to Iran in Britain. British authorities have warned for several years that Iran poses a serious threat on UK soil.