Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, 48, a senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, has officially entered the race to succeed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends at the end of the year. Her candidacy was submitted by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed. A day later, all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, unanimously endorsed her. The brief describes that as a significant show of regional support, while noting that it does not at this stage amount to the backing of the Arab bloc at the UN.
Nusseibeh was born in Abu Dhabi in 1978. Her father, Zaki Nusseibeh, was born in Jerusalem in 1946, later became interpreter and adviser to Sheikh Zayed, and now serves as cultural adviser to the UAE president. Her grandfather, Anwar Nusseibeh, served as Jordan's defence minister and as governor of Jerusalem under Jordanian rule. Her uncle, Sari Nusseibeh, is a philosopher and former president of Al-Quds University.
She studied history at Cambridge and completed a master's degree in Israeli and Jewish Diaspora studies at the University of London in 2003. She speaks Arabic, English, French and Hebrew. She advised UNESCO in Paris, established the Policy Planning Department at the UAE Foreign Ministry in 2009, and in 2013 became the first woman appointed as the UAE's ambassador to the United Nations. She represented the UAE on the Security Council in 2022 and 2023 and twice presided over the council.
After the 7 October massacre she condemned the killing of Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages, while accusing Israel of indiscriminate bombing in Gaza, demanding a ceasefire and opposing annexation in the West Bank. In September 2025 she said annexation would be a red line for the UAE. In December 2023 she was among the key figures behind Security Council Resolution 2720 on expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, and in February 2024 she led the UAE delegation at International Court of Justice hearings on Israel's presence in Palestinian territories.
The brief links the late entry to six secret Security Council straw polls. Leading candidate Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica received nine votes in favour in the latest round, the number required for appointment, but two of the five permanent members voted against her. Other candidates also faced opposition from veto powers. The account says Donald Trump is dissatisfied with the field and is looking for a disruptive figure, and that Nusseibeh's name has come up alongside other alternatives, without confirmation that he proposed her or that his administration has endorsed her.
Former Biden Middle East envoy Brett McGurk has publicly backed her. The brief recalls that Kofi Annan was selected in December 1996 only four days after his formal nomination, while Guterres entered the 2016 race at the start and led the voting. That same year, Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva also entered late, but her bid failed.
Nusseibeh has spent more than a decade at the UN, and the UAE maintains ties with Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Informal regional rotation gives Latin America preference this time, and the UAE faces criticism over allegations that it has supported militia forces blamed for atrocities in Sudan, which Abu Dhabi denies. She has taken leave from her government post and pledged to act independently if elected. The brief says she could become the first woman, the first Muslim and the first person of Palestinian descent to lead the UN. Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon has not taken a position; he said Israel is monitoring the race and expects the next secretary-general to combat antisemitism in the organisation.