US top diplomat Rubio visits the UAE after landmark talks with Russia over Ukraine war

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Wednesday with the leader of the United Arab Emirates, wrapping up an overseas trip that saw the highest-level outreach between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Rubio's talk with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, comes as the U.S. also tries to continue a shaky ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the militant Hamas group.

The UAE, which diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020 during President Donald Trump's first term, also has been key in mediating prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Sheikh Mohammed on Monday.

Rubio offered his thanks in the meeting to the UAE “for the strength and enduring nature of the relationship, one marked by strong economic ties, defense cooperation and mutual interests in regional stability,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The meeting included discussions on artificial intelligence, the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea, which had been the site of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels until the Gaza ceasefire, Bruce added.

The UAE's readout focused on comments over the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians during the meeting between Rubio, Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's foreign minister, that lasted roughly 30 minutes.

The state-run WAM news agency reported Sheikh Mohammed had told Rubio “that the UAE strongly opposes any attempt to displace the Palestinian people from Gaza.”

Trump has said he wants to empty Gaza permanently of its more than 2 million Palestinians, saying they would not be allowed to return and suggesting at one point he might force Egypt and Jordan to take them in by threatening to cut off U.S. aid.

Sheikh Mohammed also reportedly stressed that reconstruction in Gaza be backed by a “comprehensive and lasting peace” based on a two-state solution, which would see the Palestinians have their own future state out of Gaza and the West Bank.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been discussed as possible sites for peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, which marks its third anniversary on Monday. Saudi Arabia also has been mentioned as the possible venue for a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, providing a potential diplomatic boon to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

The leaders met Rubio at an Abu Dhabi convention center that's hosting the biennial International Defense Exhibition and Conference this week, where both Ukraine and Russia have displayed weapons — even as Moscow faces Western sanctions over the war.

Russian money continues to flood into Dubai’s booming real estate market. Daily flights between the Emirates and Moscow provide a lifeline for both those fleeing conscription and the Russian elite. Ukrainians as well have fled to the Emirates, an autocratically ruled federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula.

Rubio also visited Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House, which houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, visits the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seventh from left, visits the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gets out of a vehicle at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, greets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, poses for a photo with UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, interacts with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Martina A. Strong and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, meets United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, meets United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks as he prepares to board an aircraft to depart to the U.S., in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, walks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, as they meet at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, walks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)