ABU DHABI — Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, on Sunday publicly rejected an attack by Iran's parliament speaker on Lana Nusseibeh's candidacy for United Nations secretary-general, saying the criticism lacked objectivity and misread the purpose of the world body.

The exchange is a rare open quarrel between Abu Dhabi and Tehran over the Emirati bid, and it comes two days before Nusseibeh is due to answer questions from UN member states in New York on Tuesday.

The row began on Sunday when Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, who also leads Tehran's negotiating team in talks with the United States, used a post on X to attack the motives he said lay behind Nusseibeh's candidacy, The National reported.

Iran's state-run Press TV quoted the post as describing the nomination as "A bid for UN's top job to clear the diplomatic runway for Greater Israel project and whitewash a systematic genocide." The post went on, according to Press TV, "Defending the Gaza tragedy is the résumé; the fox is updating the LinkedIn profile to apply for the henhouse guard job."

Gargash answered within hours in his own post on X. Debate about Nusseibeh's vision, competence and candidacy was legitimate and welcome, he said, according to Gulf News, but the position taken by Ghalibaf "lacks objectivity".

He said the remarks overlooked the fact that "the United Nations was established to promote dialogue and resolve disputes," and "not to perpetuate hostilities and settle scores," Gulf News reported.

Gargash described Nusseibeh as a professional known for bridging differences and said it was natural that her profile would "provoke objections from some hardline voices," according to The National.

He closed with a pointed suggestion that the speaker might not have written the posts himself. "I hope these posts are the work of Mr Ghalibaf's account manager, rather than an expression of his personal views," he wrote, in Gulf News's translation of the Arabic.

Ali Al Nuaimi, who chairs the defence, interior and foreign affairs committee of the Federal National Council, went further. A country with Iran's record of "exporting instability" was in no position to lecture the UAE, he said, according to The National.

Nusseibeh "represents diplomacy, competence and the courage to build bridges," Al Nuaimi said, adding that "The Middle East deserves a future shaped by those who build peace, not those who thrive on conflict."

Nusseibeh herself responded on Monday, The National reported. In an interview with Bloomberg, also reported by the Arabian Post, she said she would pursue dialogue with Tehran if she won the post. "I commit to engaging with Iran, like all member states, to advance peace and stability," she said.

The spat lands at a tense moment in the Gulf. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed last week to have hit seven tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have drawn in British and other forces, as Strait has reported.

Press TV, in its account of Ghalibaf's post, noted that Nusseibeh has Palestinian roots and has defended the UAE's ties with Israel. The Iranian outlet also pointed to allegations that the UAE has backed paramilitary fighters in Sudan's civil war, claims Abu Dhabi denies.

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed formally nominated Nusseibeh on October 21 in a letter to the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council, and she has taken leave from her post as Minister of State to campaign.

She served as the UAE's permanent representative to the UN from 2013 to 2024, twice held the Security Council presidency during the country's 2022-2023 term, and was a vice-president of the General Assembly. If chosen she would be the first woman to lead the organisation and the second Arab after Egypt's Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Her late entry followed six informal straw polls in the 15-member Security Council that produced no candidate acceptable to all five permanent members. In the most recent poll on October 16, Rebeca Grynspan, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett and Rafael Grossi each drew two discouraging votes from permanent members, PassBlue reported.

A seventh poll planned for October 23 was postponed to give the UAE time to submit her papers, according to PassBlue, and no new date has been confirmed. Any winner needs at least nine council votes and no veto before the General Assembly makes the appointment. Antonio Guterres's second and final term ends on December 31.

Nusseibeh is scheduled to take part in an interactive dialogue with member states on October 27 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN headquarters, the Arabian Post reported, in the first formal test of her candidacy before the 193 members. PassBlue reported that General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman appears to have different arrangements in mind for the coming dialogues than for earlier candidates' hearings.