00:00As a U.S. delegation heads to Islamabad for a second round of peace talks with Iran, a
00:06fragile temporary ceasefire has kept the Middle East on edge.
00:09In an interview with Euronews, UK Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Edward Hobart
00:15said that there is a risk of a return to war, while emphasizing the need for a lasting peace
00:20with a clear way forward.
00:22I think the risk is there.
00:24The risk is reduced while there isn't fighting and while there is a prospect of talking.
00:31I don't think it serves anybody for there to be the kind of conflict that we saw previously,
00:41which had the impact that it did here in the UAE and in neighboring countries.
00:45So, we will be supporting talks to bring peace, but it's got to be the right kind of peace.
00:55Living with that threat, without it being contained, without a clear way forward would also be a
01:01risky thing for all the countries around here.
01:04So, that's critical and getting the global economy flowing again and business able to operate as it was doing before
01:13March this year is also a really important objective.
01:17The UK had distanced itself directly from involvement with the U.S. blockade.
01:24You know, why did they take that position initially and what could or would change that?
01:28You know, the UK ambassador to the U.S., Christian Turner, has told media that the U.K. was backing
01:35the U.S. operations against Iran right from the offset.
01:39Look, the Prime Minister has been very clear that this wasn't the U.K.'s war, it wasn't something we wanted
01:46to take place.
01:47But, particularly in defense of the Gulf countries, we have enabled the U.S. to help support that defense through
01:56the use of British military bases in the U.K. and elsewhere.
02:02In terms of the streets of Hormuz, what we want is the law of the sea to be followed and
02:08for these international thoroughfares which are critical to the global economy,
02:12not just to the economy here, not just the economy in Europe, but actually in particular the economy in the
02:19Far East to be open and flowing.
02:21So, we don't want blockades, we don't want Iran or others causing danger to merchant shipping in this region.
02:31Tehran and Washington have accused each other of breaching the two-week truce as uncertainty grows over a push to
02:38stop the war from resuming.
02:40U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he expects the U.S. to be bombing Iran again soon
02:45if no progress is made in the second round of negotiations.
02:49U.S. President Trump died
Comments