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' replies to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf's criticism of Lana Nusseibeh's bid to lead the UN. Two UAE officials get four sentences of direct quotation, while Mr Ghalibaf's criticism is reduced to one paraphrase, so the reader never learns what he actually said. The article attributes the sharp charges against Iran to the officials who made 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 article's only account of the Iranian criticism the whole story is about. Mr Ghalibaf is never quoted and the content of his post is never given.
    The impression it gives
    A reader hears the UAE officials call the remarks lacking objectivity and a sign of a destructive mentality, but has no way to judge those remarks, because only the replies are set out in full.
    The context
    The article gives Dr Gargash and Dr Al Nuaimi direct quotation across several sentences, including that Mr Ghalibaf's remarks "lack objectivity" and represent "the very destructive mentality", while the Iranian side appears only as a one-line paraphrase.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Mr Ghalibaf's remarks “lack objectivity””
    • Elsewhere in the article“Your rhetoric represents the very destructive mentality”

    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 National uses "accused" and keeps "exporting instability" inside quotation marks, so the charge against Iran stays Dr Al Nuaimi's claim and not the outlet's own.

  • “Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country's top negotiator in talks with the US”

    The article names the Iranian official and his role, and does not fold him into a vague label for Iran's government.

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

    The phrase "hardline voices" is kept in quotation marks and attributed to Dr Gargash, not used in the outlet's own narration.

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