Barzani, UAE president discuss regional war and rising tensions

ERBIL — Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani held a phone call Friday with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, with both leaders expressing “deep concern over the expansion of the war” and emphasizing the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to maintain stability.

According to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency, the two sides discussed the latest regional tensions and their “dangerous consequences,” and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening what it described as the “historic and friendly relations” between them. The discussion also covered relations between the UAE, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, and ways to expand bilateral cooperation.

The call comes as the UAE has been under sustained Iranian attack since the war began Feb. 28. Iranian forces have fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles, more than 1,000 drones and eight cruise missiles at the Emirates, according to UAE Ministry of Defence figures. Most were intercepted, but debris and projectiles that penetrated defenses struck populated areas across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

The Kurdistan Region has itself been targeted by more than 100 missiles and drones since the war began, with attacks striking Iranian Kurdish opposition bases in Koya and Degala, residential neighborhoods in Erbil, and energy infrastructure including the Sarsang oil field in Duhok.