HE Dr. Anwar Gargash: Presence of Hezbollah-like militias in Southern Arabian Peninsula not acceptable; political solution in Yemen is possible without Iran

HE Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the UAE, has stressed that a political solution in Yemen is possible without Iran. The Houthis can be part of the political process based on their real size and not on their arms, he said, rejecting the presence of any Hezbollah-like militias in southern Arabian Peninsula.

Speaking in an interview with Sky News Arabia .Gargash said, "In January, evidence emerged that the Houthis have missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia."

Describing US President Barack Obama's invitation to the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to a meeting at Camp David as "positive", Gargash said "the final judgment hinges on the outcome" of the meeting.

The results of the forthcoming meeting in Camp David will be "modest" if they turn out to be a mere general statement on the security of the region and a talk on defence systems, Gargash said.

The relationship between the GCC and Washington is interdependent- that is if the GCC needs Washington, then Washington needs the GCC, he added. He noted that the GCC leaders will demand a political commitment from the U.S. that guarantees that the results of its agreement with Iran will ensure that Iran's policy will be less expansionist and will respect its Arab neighbours.

"The major issue in Arab-Iran relations is Iran's desire for expansion," Minister Gargash added.

"The nuclear agreement between the West and Iran created a new dynamic...Indications say it is not in interest of moderate Iranians," he said, adding that the nuclear agreement will help Iran's expansion at the expense of Arabs.

Commenting on the situation in Syria, Gargash said, "I don't think there will be a resolution to the crisis in Syria in the near future. Current movements have not yet reached the level of a final solution."

"The fall of Bashar Assad will not mean that Syria will fall into the hands of extremists. There is a way in the middle between the these two extremes", he said, adding that Iran is not giving up on its support for Assad because it doe not have other alternatives.

"We cannot imagine a moderate and secure Arab region without a stable and prosperous Egypt. Had the Muslim Brotherhood continued to rule Egypt, the situation in the Arab region would have been much worse," he said.

Gargash said that the UAE looks forward not to having a single-handed influence but to a Gulf region where Saudi Arabia plays an important role and an Arab region where Egypt plays an important role.