Pompeo meets UAE crown prince on 2nd stop of Mideast tour
Dubai, Nov 21 (efe-epa).- The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday met the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan in the Emirati capital, the second stop on a tour of the Middle East that began in Israel.
The meeting addressed recent regional and global developments “of mutual interest and discussed ways of furthering bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation,” the state-run WAM news agency reported.
During the meeting held in Abu Dhabi’s al-Shati palace, Pompeo and al-Nahyan – who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE army – “exchanged views on developments in the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East, ongoing efforts and moves aimed at settling regional crises and containing tensions,” WAM added without providing more details.
They also discussed the Abraham Accords that the UAE and Bahrain recently signed with Israel, an historic agreement to formally establish diplomatic relations that was mediated by the United States.
The main objective of Pompeo’s visit is “to discuss the progress of the UAE’s normalization of relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords Declaration and other issues of bilateral concern including security cooperation and countering Iran’s malign influence in the region,” according to a Department of State statement.
The UAE is one of Washington’s allies in the Gulf and a staunch enemy of Iran, which administration of President Donald Trump has tried to isolate by uniting its Arab allies and Israel against Tehran.
“During the Trump administration, the United States and the United Arab Emirates relationship has grown deeper and broader than at any point before,” Pompeo said in the statement.
A couple of weeks ago, the US administration has approved the sale of military material worth $23.4 billion, including 50 unites of the F-35 fighter jets, provoking a controversy.
Pompeo’s tour will take him next to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two US allies in the region that have endured tense relations since 2017, a diplomatic dispute which the US has been unable to mediate. EFE-EPA
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