DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that "critical circumstances" in the region require a united Gulf Arab and Arab stand, amid heightened tensions with Iran following last week's attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the UAE.

A foreign ministry statement published on state news agency WAM welcomed a call by Saudi Arabia's King Salman to convene emergency summits in Mecca to discuss implications of the tanker attacks and a strike two days later on oil installations in the kingdom.

(Reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; editing by Diane Craft) ((ghaida.ghantous@thomsonreuters.com;))