US President Donald Trump will bring about a diplomatic conclusion to the war with Iran “in his time”, and Tehran must halt attacks on its neighbours before they can mediate, one of the UAE’s top diplomats has said in an interview, Reuters reports.

Lana Nusseibeh, a former UAE ambassador to the United Nations who now holds the rank of minister of state in the Emirati foreign ministry, expressed confidence that the war would end in a negotiated settlement. But she said neighbours were shocked that Iran had unleashed attacks on them.

“Ultimately, it will be a diplomatic solution, but there needs to be that tipping point moment, and I think that President Trump will lead us all to that moment in his time,” Nusseibeh said in an interview.

Asked about efforts to mediate, she said Iran must halt its attacks first: “It is difficult to talk about mediation when under attack… Mediation can only happen when the guns go silent.”

She added that Iranian officials have given her no indication that the UAE was a target when she visited Tehran for talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis two weeks before it erupted into conflict.

That lack of warning made Iran’s attacks on the UAE “so shocking and so egregious”.