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Every candidate for UN Secretary-General should be vetted against archives such as the Epstein files, the millions of pages of documents on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released by the US Department of Justice. A review of this kind would reveal how ties to controversial figures begin, how they evolve and what they were meant to secure.
The Epstein files expose a disturbing cross-section of the global elite – from chief executives, presidents and prime ministers to royals, academics, celebrities and spiritual leaders – and, despite extensive redactions, lay bare the moral compromises and networks of influence at the highest levels.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) nominated Lana Nusseibeh, a minister of state and former ambassador to the UN, on 21 October to succeed the outgoing UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
The Epstein files place her in two episodes involving Epstein and his associates. In 2010, she was asked to add Epstein to the guest list of an Abu Dhabi forum.
In 2019, she wrote to the president of New York University (NYU) supporting the application of Edward, the son of Terje Rød-Larsen, a Norwegian diplomat and peace-process figure.
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Nusseibeh in the Files
The files mention Nusseibeh herself relatively rarely. It is the people involved and the relationships the documents record which bear significance. On 27 October 2010, she was sent an email with the subject line “Jeffrey Epstein” about the Sir Bani Yas Forum in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Foreign Ministry’s private annual gathering of foreign ministers and policymakers. Pim Valdre wrote:
Dear Lana, I was informed yesterday that Terje [Rød-Larsen], after discussions with HH, has invited Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, Chairman of Financial Trust Company, Inc to participate a business participant at Sir Bani Yas. With apologies for this last minute addition, Terje would like that Mr. Epstein be added to the list of participants. […] Terje sends his best regards and thanks for your understanding.
The email states that Rød-Larsen invited Epstein after discussions with a senior Emirati official and wanted him added to the list of participants. Epstein had been jailed for soliciting underage sex in 2008. Any vetting of participants worth the name would have flagged him.
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Rød-Larsen’s messages to Epstein show how close the two men were. On 27 March 2011, he thanked Epstein for hosting him, his wife and their children:
Thanks, Jeff, for a great day on a wonderful and totally unique place! We all loved it. Emma and Edward are ecstatic (think the four wheel drives made the strongest impression!). My mind is working on further ideas for creative development. Hope to be back soon! Warmest, Terje
Years after Epstein’s conviction, on 1 January 2017, Rød-Larsen wrote:
Dear Jeff, A very happy New Year to you! With deep felt gratitude for everything you have done – and been – for me in the year that passed. You are my best friend, and a super rare, thoroughly good human being. Thanks for being you! Warmest, Terje
The Letter to NYU
The second episode came more than eight years after the forum email. On 9 January 2019, Nusseibeh, still the UAE’s ambassador to the UN, emailed Rød-Larsen and his wife, Mona Juul, offering to contact NYU president Andrew Hamilton on behalf of their son, Edward:
This must be the time of the year when everybody is activating whatever contacts they have in university admissions departments, but if you think this could be helpful I would be more than happy to reach out to NYU president Andrew Hamilton to put in a good word for Edward [Rød-Larsen] or write a letter of recommendation.
Less than three hours later, Rød-Larsen replied: “Mona, Edward and I would appreciate very much if you could follow up with Andrew Hamilton as regards Edward’s possibilities at NYU.” He added that Edward would send Nusseibeh the relevant information and thanked her for her efforts. Within an hour, the correspondence was forwarded to Epstein.
On 15 January 2019, Nusseibeh sent Hamilton a letter on the official letterhead of the UAE Permanent Mission to the United Nations, supporting Edward’s application. She wrote:
Dear Andrew, […]. I would like to write to you in support of Edward Rod-Larsen securing a place at NYU. […] The only thing I can offer in defense is that I was the one who offered to reach out to you on behalf of Edward – something his parents were reluctant to ask me to do. […] I have known Edward’s family for many years. Edward’s father Terje Rod-Larsen and I have worked together here at the UN and he is a source of wisdom and probity on issues of peace and security in the Middle East. […] I know this is a busy time, but I would be deeply grateful for your consideration of a young man who I believe has a very bright future ahead of him. All the best for 2019, and I do hope to see you again in the near future.
Nusseibeh used the Mission’s official letterhead to appeal to the president of NYU, which has a campus in Abu Dhabi, on behalf of the son of a long-standing associate. The correspondence behind her letter had been forwarded to Epstein. The episode blurs the boundary between personal relationships and public office, and shows privileged access exercised for the family of a man who called Epstein his “best friend”.
Epstein’s will named Edward Rød-Larsen as a beneficiary of $5 million. Edward died by suicide in late April 2026, The Times reported, days after Norwegian and French police announced a joint investigation into his parents over alleged corruption related to their links to Epstein. Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul deny the allegations. In a September interview with the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Terje Rød-Larsen said he was “deeply sorry” about his involvement with Epstein and “should have cut contact with him at an earlier point in time”.
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The UAE’s Image
Nusseibeh’s candidacy fits the UAE’s sustained, top-down campaign to project sophistication, tolerance and global leadership. In Abu Dhabi, that ambition is embodied by foreign institutions such as the Louvre, the Guggenheim, Sorbonne University and NYU, alongside the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, established in 2016. Abroad, the UAE has pursued a broad agenda spanning infrastructure, diplomacy and humanitarian aid, initiatives that have attracted controversy.
Yet the country’s international branding is undercut by restrictions on domestic debate. The UAE has also benefited from “dis-influencers”, who circulate disinformation and promote state-aligned narratives. Arrests over satirical content and official warnings to influencers against posting about the conflict with Iran mark the limits of permissible public expression. Human Rights Watch has called the UAE’s official rhetoric of tolerance a “sham”; other critics dismiss it as a marketing tool.
That climate explains why Emirati public figures who appear in the Epstein files have faced more scrutiny abroad than at home. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, then chairman and chief executive of DP World, the Dubai-based ports and logistics group that owns P&O Ferries, is a prominent example. In February, after his emails with Epstein became public, financial groups in Canada and the UK paused future ventures with DP World; a day later, the company replaced him. His correspondence included sexually explicit messages. On 13 June 2013, he wrote: “I am off the sample a fresh 100% Russian at my yacht.” On 15 August 2015, he wrote: “Check out my very own hairy porn site! Naughty Natural.com”, followed by a message about an Amazon wish list.
Closer to Nusseibeh is Hind al-Owais, who served as a counsellor and acting deputy permanent representative at the UAE Mission to the United Nations in New York. The files show her exchanging emails with Epstein from November 2010 to December 2012; in 2011, she told him she would probably move to New York and asked whether he had ideas for finding a job. In 2015, she became a senior advisor at UN Headquarters. Nusseibeh, then the UAE’s ambassador to the UN, described the appointment as an important milestone: “Having an Emirati woman in this position is a reflection of the international recognition that the UAE has achieved, not only on gender equality, but also as an active and serious player in this international organisation.”
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Judgment and Vetting
The forum email and the NYU letter both came after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 – the first by more than two years, the second by more than a decade. In the years between, investigative reporting brought further allegations and scrutiny to light. The chronology matters when assessing the judgment of people who maintained relationships with him.
Norway has already assessed one of its own diplomats on those terms. In a statement accompanying Juul’s resignation as ambassador to Iraq and Jordan in February, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: “Juul’s contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed a serious lapse in judgment. The situation makes it difficult to restore the trust that the role requires.”
The next UN Secretary-General will need that trust across 193 member states. The documented interactions demand scrutiny of Nusseibeh’s judgment, her use of official influence and the professional networks in which she operated. A credible vetting process must address them before any vote.