The National, on Iran, 25 October 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

UAE officials reject Iran's criticism of UN candidate Nusseibeh

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Senior <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uae/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/uae/">UAE</a> officials have responded strongly to Iran’s criticism of Emirati diplomat <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/21/lana-nusseibeh-un-secretary-general/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/21/lana-nusseibeh-un-secretary-general/">Lana Nusseibeh</a>'s campaign to become secretary general of the UN.

Ms Nusseibeh joined the race for the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/un/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/un/">UN</a>'s top job last Wednesday after no clear front-runner emerged among eight other candidates. Her campaign has gathered support from a wider range of countries. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country's top negotiator in talks with the US, on Sunday . Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, said discussion of Ms Nusseibeh's agenda was welcome but that Mr Ghalibaf's remarks “lack objectivity”.

He said they also “overlook the fact that the United Nations was established to promote dialogue and resolve conflicts, not to entrench enmities and settle scores”. Dr Gargash described Ms Nusseibeh as a professional figure known for bridging differences and prioritising diplomacy, and said this would naturally “provoke objections from some hardline voices”. Dr Ali Al Nuaimi, chairman of the defence, interior and foreign affairs committee of the Federal National Council, accused Mr Ghalibaf of trying to lecture the UAE despite Iran's record of “exporting instability”.

“Lana Nusseibeh represents diplomacy, competence and the courage to build bridges. Your rhetoric represents the very destructive mentality that has brought so much suffering to our region,” Dr Al Nuaimi said in response. “The Middle East deserves a future shaped by those who build peace, not those who thrive on conflict.” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's second and final term will finish at the end of the year. Members of the Security Council have held several informal votes on a successor but no consensus has yet emerged.

Ms Nusseibeh has called for generational change and pledged to reform the UN with “clearer priorities” if she is elected. She would be the first woman to lead the UN and the second Arab after Egypt's Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Appointed the UAE's ambassador to the UN in 2013, she previously held several positions in Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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What we found (1)

The National reports UAE officials' rebuttal of the Iranian parliament speaker's criticism of Lana Nusseibeh's bid for UN secretary general. It quotes the Emirati officials at length but never tells the reader what Mr Ghalibaf actually said, so the reader hears only the reply. The UAE officials' charges against Iran are clearly attributed to them.

  1. One side gets the space

    Minor

    “questioned Ms Nusseibeh's agenda in a post on X”

    Why this matters
    The words "questioned Ms Nusseibeh's agenda" are the only account the article gives of Mr Ghalibaf's post. They give no quotation and no summary of his argument.
    The impression it gives
    A reader learns that Iran criticised the candidate but not what the criticism was. The reader is left to judge it only through the UAE officials' verdict that it "lacks objectivity" and reflects a "destructive mentality".
    The context
    The article gives two UAE officials six sentences of direct quotation and description in S5 to S11. Mr Ghalibaf, whose post is the event being answered, gets one clause with none of his words. The reader cannot weigh the rebuttal against the remarks it rebuts.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“discussion of Ms Nusseibeh's agenda was welcome”

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “accused Mr Ghalibaf of trying to lecture the UAE despite Iran's record of “exporting instability””

    The article marks the charge against Iran as Dr Al Nuaimi's accusation and keeps his words inside quotation marks, rather than stating it in its own voice.

  • “said this would naturally “provoke objections from some hardline voices””

    The label "hardline" stays inside Dr Gargash's quoted words and is not adopted as the outlet's own description.

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