New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi can play a vital role to help the UAE stay away from the crisis in the Middle East, Hussain Hassan Mirza, the first ambassador of that country to India, told NDTV.

PM Modi commands respect not just among Gulf leaders but among the region’s public and business communities, and that credibility extends to both parties in the current conflict, Mirza said.

“One phone call from Mr Modi to the counterparts in Iran and Israel can solve this issue, can end this issue. One phone call,” he added.

In his words, this confidence rests on PM Modi’s standing with both “warriors” currently fighting what he called a war being waged “on our soil”.

Mirza made it clear that the UAE has no desire to be drawn into the Iran-Israel conflict and will not allow its territory to be used as a launching pad by either side.

“To be honest, I’m not sure why we are involved. There is no reason for the UAE to be involved in this,” the envoy said.

Abu Dhabi is in a sensitive geopolitical position. It is a neighbour to Iran, and a partner to Israel under the Abraham Accords.

According to Mirzapur, that position is precisely what makes the UAE useful. “We can negotiate between the two,” he said.

“They are fighting each other on our soil. That is unacceptable,” Mirza said.

“I am not a military guy,” he said, and added that reports of minimal damage so far are accurate as per his assessment.

There are no signs of improvement in the situation even after Mojtaba Khamenei was selected the supreme leader of Iran. On Monday, Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes on central Iran and hit Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

Meanwhile The human cost continues to rise. Iran’s UN ambassador put the number of civilian deaths at 1,332, with thousands wounded. The US also confirmed the death of a seventh American soldier during treatment.