UAE officials rejected Iranian criticism of Lana Nusseibeh’s candidacy for UN secretary-general, as the search for António Guterres’s successor continues. Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said that discussing Nusseibeh’s platform was appropriate, but that Ghalibaf’s comments, in his view, lacked objectivity. He also said that these statements ignore the UN’s purpose as a platform for dialogue and conflict resolution, rather than for entrenching hostility and settling scores.