UAE presidential adviser says conflict around Iran to drag on

NEW YORK, September 22. /TASS/. The conflict around Iran will drag on, although its intensity will change, UAE Presidential Adviser on Diplomatic Affairs Anwar Gargash said.

"I see a protracted conflict, not necessarily at the same pace as we see now. If we look at the [dynamics of the] conflict from the last day of February through March and beyond, [we will see that] the pace has changed, but the conflict itself continues," he said at an event organized by the US-based news outlet Al-Monitor .

Gargash added that the conflict in its current form is the result of the "failure of containment efforts." After the United States began military operations against Iran, the conflict spread and became a "larger-scale war in the region," the UAE presidential adviser noted. "This is a conflict that will continue, and it will not necessarily look the way it does now," Gargash stressed.

The US and Israel began their war with Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, on the night of July 8, the US resumed large-scale strikes on Iran. The US administration subsequently effectively signaled an end to the use of large-scale military force against Iran and a shift toward an attempt to economically strangle the country through sanctions.