Hardest-hit by Iran, the UAE pivots from cooperation to confrontation

As the Trump administration mulls a diplomatic path to concluding its war with Iran, one Middle East country – beyond Israel – is pushing Washington to take a tougher line.The United Arab Emirates, the tiny confederation of Persian Gulf ministates hit hardest by Iran’s barrage of missiles in the war, has emerged as the Arab country most determined to confront Tehran.The UAE is urging the United States to demand greater concessions and restrictions on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. And it is seeking to definitively end Iranian maritime “blackmail,” citing threats not only to the Gulf, but to the global economy for decades to come. Why We Wrote This For years, the business-friendly United Arab Emirates had sought regional normalization. Now, after being targeted by Iran, it is pushing the United States to demand greater concessions from Tehran, and is pressing its neighbors to cooperate militarily. “There’s no point in kicking the can down the road when we’re just going to end up where we started, maybe even with a more emboldened regime,” Reem al-Hashimy, the UAE’s minister of state for international cooperation, told ABC News April 19 regarding U.S.-Iran talks.It is building up its own military to back up