DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates on Sunday opened the World Laureates Summit, the world’s largest gathering of Nobel Prize winners, bringing leading scientists and thinkers to Abu Dhabi to discuss some of the most pressing global challenges.

The summit brings together more than 150 Nobel laureates, scientists and policymakers from around the world to exchange ideas on issues ranging from climate change and health to technology, education and sustainable development, highlighting the UAE’s growing role as a hub for global scientific dialogue.

The three-day summit runs alongside the World Governments Summit 2026. It was inaugurated by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Discussions focus on artificial intelligence, quantum science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and energy. 

Experts say fundamental science is key to shaping global policy and sustainable development.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said scientists were “essential partners in building the future.” Sheikh Mohammed called science “the true wealth of nations.”

The World Laureates Association also announced a new UAE base. Organisers said it will turn the country into a hub for international research collaboration.

The summit aims to link scientific innovation directly to policy decisions. It highlights the UAE’s growing role as a global platform for knowledge and technology.

• Trump says deal possible as Iran warns of regional war.
• Khamenei warns US attack would trigger regional conflict.
• Iran frees protester on bail amid rising US tensions.

US President Donald Trump on on Sunday said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran after the country’s supreme leader warned that any US attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional war.

Following the Iranian authorities’ deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a “coup”, warning that a US attack would trigger a broad conflict.

“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” he said, telling Iranians they “should not be scared” of Trump’s rhetoric.

“They (rioters) attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Koran[…] It was like a coup,” Khamenei said, adding that “the coup was suppressed”.

Asked about the Iranian leader’s warning, Trump told reporters on Sunday: “Of course he is going to say that.

“Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” he said.

Iranian authorities nonetheless ordered the release of detained 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani on bail, his lawyer said on Sunday, after Washington warned he was on death row and threatened an attack if any anti-government demonstrators were executed.

He was arrested in January for what Iran’s judiciary said were charges of propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system and acting against national security.

Washington had warned he was due to be executed, though Tehran said he had never been sentenced to death and that the charges against him did not carry the death penalty.

As tensions heightened between Iran and the US, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said he was concerned about “miscalculations” but said he believed Trump was “wise enough to make the correct decision”.

He said Iran has lost trust in the United States as a negotiating partner, adding that some countries in the region were acting as intermediaries to rebuild trust.

“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” he said in an interview with CNN.

‘Terrorist’ designations 

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published a list of 2,986 names out of the 3,117 that authorities said were killed in the unrest.

Of the total, 131 have yet to be identified but their details will be released soon, it said in a statement.

Authorities insist most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.

However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,713 deaths, mostly protesters.

The response prompted the European Union to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, with Iranian lawmakers retaliating on Sunday by slapping the same designation on European armies.

Lawmakers wore the green uniform of the Guards in a display of solidarity at the legislative session, where they chanted “Death to America”, “Death to Israel” and “Shame on you, Europe”, state television footage showed.

It remained unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

The step matched similar classifications enacted by the United States, Canada and Australia.

Threats and dialogue

Firouzeh, a 43-year-old homemaker who declined to give her full name, said the recent tensions had left her “very worried and scared”.

“Lately, all I do is watch the news until I fall asleep. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to check the updates,” she said.

IRGC official Ahmad Vahidi was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying “enemies” sought to create a “war atmosphere”.

But Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday: “Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.”

Trump also confirmed that dialogue was taking place, but without withdrawing his earlier threats, adding “we’ll see what happens”.

The US president previously said he believed Iran would make a deal over its nuclear and missile programmes rather than face military action.

Tehran, meanwhile, has said it is ready for nuclear talks if its missile and defence capabilities are not on the agenda.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that if the US attacked Iran, it would become a regional conflict, state media reported on Sunday, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The US has built up its naval presence in the Middle East after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened Iran with intervention if it did not agree to a nuclear deal or failed to stop killing protesters.

“[Trump] regularly says that he brought ships […] The Iranian nation shall not be scared by these things, the Iranian people will not be stirred by these threats,” Khamenei said.

“We are not the initiators and do not want to attack any country, but the Iranian nation will strike a strong blow against anyone who attacks and harasses them.”

A diplomatic solution remains on the cards, with Tehran saying it is ready for “fair” negotiations that do not seek to curtail its defensive capabilities.

The US Navy currently has six destroyers, one aircraft carrier, and three littoral combat ships in the region.

The protests, which started in late December over economic hardships but morphed into the most acute political challenge to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979, have now abated after repression.

Official numbers put the unrest-related death toll at 3,117, while the US-based HRANA rights group said on Sunday it had so far verified the death of 6,713 people. Reuters was unable to independently verify the numbers.

Khamenei likened the protests to a “coup”, saying that the goal of the “sedition” was to attack the centres that govern the country, state media reported.