Gargash: we’ve fought terrorism, now we fight extremism
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs has called for a war on extremism and the need to discuss extremist financing, in a reference to policies pursued by Qatar.
Speaking on a panel entitled Finding a New Equilibrium in the Middle East at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Dr Anwar Gargash said efforts to restore stability in the region needed a wider focus.
“We are winning the war against terrorism but we need now to win the war against extremism,” Dr Gargash said.
“We have all been talking about terrorist financing, we need now to talk about extremist financing, that is essentially the normal evolution of where we need to go.”
He said that what the Middle East required was civic states, rather than states that are trying to look into the past and find a golden age.
The panel, including Dr Gargash, advanced arguments against the spread of Iran’s influence in the region, accusing it of “transnational sectarianism”. The minister of state said recent protests in the country had set “very significant” markers.
He said: “Clearly the [Iranian] economy is flawed, it tanked, clearly people really want an emphasis on creating opportunity and jobs.
“The whole idea of not Gaza, not Syria, but Iran is what you [Iran] should concentrate on,
is a clear message, not from us across the Gulf, but from your own population. Don’t spend five or six billion annually in Syria, don’t spend a billion on Hezbollah,” he said. “Concentrate on creating opportunity.”
But Dr Gargash also claimed it was a moment for Iran to reassess its position.
“Everybody thought that following the earlier green movement, this would cow the Iranian people, and it hasn’t. This has recurred … it will recur. From the perspective that we see, this is the time for Iran to analyse again what it is doing, for its own stability’s sake.
“I think it is important, the sort of disturbances that were countrywide and Iran now admits were all internal, is an opportunity for them to understand that they have to be a normal country.”
Speaking of any future rapprochement between the UAE and Iran, Dr Gargash said the circumstances would set the framework for such moves.
“The normal thing to do is have a dialogue, because we can’t be neighbours and not talk to each other,” he said. “But you can’t have a dialogue with Iran not being a normal state that respects the sovereignty of other states.
“I think we will need to look in the next few months at the anger that was seen on Iranian streets is not in vain. [It is] an opportunity for Iran to recalibrate, re-emphasise, prioritise and understand that an aggressive foreign policy in Arab space doesn’t only undermine stability in Arab lands, it also undermines stability in Iran.”