Iran is playing a dangerous game with the world’s economy, and according to Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, they know exactly what they’re doing. When Nusseibeh said in her Fox News interview that the Islamic Republic is trying to give the global economy a “heart attack” by choking off the Strait of Hormuz, we should listen carefully. She pointed out that this isn’t hyperbole from a distant observer; it’s a warning from a nation that’s absorbed over 2,200 Iranian missiles and drones since late February, as she described in that same interview.
Nusseibeh didn’t mince words as she laid bare what many in Washington have been hesitant to say out loud: Iran’s closure of this crucial energy waterway is a calculated assault on the entire world, not just the United States and its Gulf allies. And when 25% of the world’s oil must pass through a narrow strait and one rogue regime decides to block it, every American feels the pain at the pump. The numbers tell a brutal story, with Nusseibeh noting that 89% of Iran’s targets in the UAE have been civilian infrastructure; this isn’t military strategy, it’s terrorism plain and simple.
The regime in Tehran isn’t trying to win a conventional war, they’re trying to make the cost of resistance so high that the civilized world backs down and lets them have their nuclear weapons, their ballistic missiles, and their network of terrorist proxies across the Middle East. What makes this particularly galling is that the UAE tried the diplomatic route for decades, as Nusseibeh herself traveled to Tehran in early February for what were described as “useful and constructive talks” with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The Emirates understood American concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and regional destabilization, but instead of negotiating in good faith, the mullahs chose escalation.
They chose missiles over diplomacy, civilian targets over military ones, and chaos over stability. The UAE’s sin, in Iran’s eyes, is simple: they signed the Abraham Accords and dared to normalize relations with Israel. They chose peace and prosperity over the endless cycle of hatred that the Iranian regime feeds on; for that, they’re being punished with missile barrages and economic warfare. President Trump has made it clear in his recent statements that America won’t be bullied, and the deployment of additional 82nd Airborne forces to the region sends a message that we’re prepared to defend our interests and our allies.
But Nusseibeh’s warning about a global economic heart attack should remind us what’s really at stake here. This isn’t just about Iran’s nuclear program or even the security of Israel; it’s about whether a rogue regime gets to hold the world’s economy hostage whenever it doesn’t get its way. The Strait of Hormuz isn’t Iranian property, it’s an international waterway, and keeping it open is a core interest of every nation that depends on affordable energy. When gas prices spike to nearly $4 a gallon and diesel jumps 40%, working Americans pay the price for Iran’s aggression, as seen under the Biden administration’s policies.
Nusseibeh’s warning is a wake-up call: Iran isn’t just a regional threat, they’re a global menace playing with fire. The question isn’t whether we can afford to stop them; the question is whether we can afford not to. Providence watches over the bold.
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