…by Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: Oh my, we have Iran now saying that it not only had good talks with the UAE, but they cut a deal on maritime security. That is going to twist some shorts in a knot in Washington and the Saudi palaces.
The PTV piece is short so I back filled it with the TRTWorld report from July 30th with a lot more information. Gosh I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Brits heard about this, right when they were in the middle of their silly attempt to play the lead in “defending the Hormuz Straits”.
You just can’t make this silly sh_t up, but apparently someone keeps trying. VT will be watching this developing story closely, as in how the Saudis respond and the US.
So far they have been quiet. Why? Well, what could they say? They must be stunned… Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … August 09, 2019 –
The UAE has signed a document on maritime border security with Iran. The UAE had been lobbying in Washington for a tougher stance on Tehran.
However, following suspicious attacks on oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in May and June and subsequent fear of a major escalation in the region, UAE officials decided to rethink that strategy. Iran has called oil tanker incidents “suspicious”.
During their visit to Iran, UAE officials cited extra-regional intervention by certain governments on maritime frontlines as a “source of trouble” for the region in the wake of a US initiative to shore up support from its allies to establish a naval coalition against Iran in the Persian Gulf.
The UAE also cited Iran’s endeavors against drug smuggling in the region as another factor in bolstering border protection efforts with the country.
**
The two sides meet in what is being seen as a sign of attempts to ease tensions in the Persian Gulf.
…from TRT World
– First published … July 30, 2019 –
UAE officials travelled to Iran this week to hold talks on maritime security in the Persian Gulf where the threat of an escalation in tensions has increased in recent months with attacks and seizure of ships.
Although the exact nature of the meeting remains unclear, some reports suggest that this was the first time since 2013 the two sides had met on the issue. UAE officials insisted it was a routine affair, however.
Iran’s news agency ISNA said the seven-member UAE delegation and Iranian officials discussed issues related to shared borders, illegal entries, trespassing by fishermen, visits by citizens of each nation and maritime connections.
According to Dubai-based Khaleej Times, the meeting was “sixth in a series, the last one being three months ago”. The two sides have a long-running dispute on islands including Abu Musa.
Iranian news websites showed pictures of Commander of Iran’s Border Police Brigadier General Qassem Rezaei shaking hands with his Emirati counterpart Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Mesbah al Ahbabi. However, experts say, the UAE is reaching out to Iran to avoid being caught up in any escalation in the region.
“I think UAE is reassessing its foriegn policy. UAE’s exit from Yemen and its rapprochement with Iran are two signs,” Foad Izadi, Political Science Professor at Tehran University, told TRT World. “They realise relying on the Saudis and Trump is not very safe in the long run.”
The UAE has decided to pull out some of its soldiers and military equipment from Yemen, which suggests that the years-long deadly conflict has hit a stalemate.
Iran backs the Houthi rebels in Yemen while the UAE along with Saudi Arabia has contributed money and men to support the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and keep the Houthis at bay.
It still remains unclear what could have caused a change of heart in the UAE but the Houthi rebels, nevertheless, welcomed the talks with Iran.
“The UAE message from Iran was positive,” Anadolu Agency quoted Houthi member Mohamed Ali al Houthi as saying.
While the officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump were quick to blame Iran for the attack on oil ships in May off the coast of Fujairah, the UAE trod cautiously, abstaining from blaming Tehran directly.
Yet at the same time Abu Dhabi has backed Washington when it abandoned a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed crippling economic sanctions. The UAE and Saudi Arabia also cited Iran as a reason why they severed ties with former ally Qatar, saying the Qataris were too close to Iran.
“The UAE’s justification for blockading Qatar was entirely hypocritical when it comes to Iran,” says Dr Andreas Krieg, Assistant Professor at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London. “The UAE’s trade relationship with Iran albeit at times overshadowed by tension over the Abu Musa island, has been a lot deeper than Qatar’s relationship with Iran.”
Krieg says the sheer trade volume between the UAE and Iran in oil, metal and financial products has been 20 times larger than that of Qatar.
“Until today, despite new US sanctions on Iran, the UAE maintains very deep trade relations with Iran, importing steel and metal products, and allowing Iranians to launder money in the UAE, mostly Dubai, in breach of US sanctions.”
The trade volume between the UAE and Iran last year was around $19 billion, according to the Financial Times, which in a recent article said the threat of sanctions could slash the volume of trade by half this year.
“For the UAE, the problem with Qatar was mostly over Al Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar’s empowerment of revolutionaries during the Arab Spring,” Krieg said. “It was the Saudis who have taken a zero tolerance approach to Iran that the Emiratis supported.”
Iran continued to remain on a war footing with the US allies, especially in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The global powers aren’t taking a submissive approach either. The UK is now trying to build an international security force to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran seized a Uk-flagged Stena Impero tanker on July 19.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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i forsee poo, slowly leaking from the bottoms of the u.k power base, having ‘talked the talk’ & now may not be able to ‘walk the walk’ with tougher friends than herself..
she sounded sooo tough & menacing to usa, when the usa was looking for “anybody” to go in to iran instead of herself.
well england…i’m sure your tough enough to go up against the little peoples of iran !…alone
Well after Princess Haya fled to England it’s been reported that she was assisted by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Sayed Al Nayed, Jordanian King Abdulla II and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. If you examine the changes in UAE’s posture with Saudi Arabia since Princess Haya left; I’d say that Hamden bin Mohammed Al Maktoum is mad as hell.
Harry I had no clue about this affair so i looked it up and bring it here after reading it ……
Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, a wife of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, has left her husband – a highly unusual move for a senior royal in the UAE.
She has applied for a protection order in the High Court in London, and is seeking wardship of her children.
Sources told the BBC she was in fear for her life as she prepared for the court battle with her husband.
She is said to be hiding in a townhouse in central London.
Dubai ruler’s wife seeks protection order
She was conspicuously absent from Royal Ascot this year, despite being an Olympic rider and a regular at races.
The princess spent a lot of time in the UK as a child. She was educated at two private schools, Badminton School in Bristol and Bryanston School in Dorset, before studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University.
She has previously told interviewers that she has a passion for falconry, shooting and heavy machinery, and she claims to be the only woman licensed to drive heavy trucks in Jordan.
Her husband has not responded formally to reports about their marriage. He did post on Instagram on 10 June, accusing an unidentified woman of “treachery and betrayal”.
In court, he has asked for his children to be returned to Dubai.
Princess Haya is said to be living in an £85m ($107m) house in Kensington Palace Gardens.
It seems to me that UAE has some intel about those tanker attacks a few weeks back, and KNOWS that it was not Iran. Maybe they know who it was, but even if they don’t it is proof positive that all the attempts to blame Iran are false and can only mean an attempt to start a war. A war in the Gulf would be bad for UAE, so they do what is in their interest (and incidentally everyone else’s, apart from the instigators) and start talking with Iran. Bravo! Perhaps their staged withdrawal from Yemen is also because of the machinated tension in the Gulf.
How can this be – false flags are bringing people to their senses! Unheard of!
It’s far from that that the UAE have any Mo0rals but It’s rather that Iran’s stated Revenge is a few barrages of missiles and then the UAE happens to be within Short Range for Iran besides Arab Armies are 85% imported personnel from third World and only work or are visile to obtain the next paycheck from the Sheikhs …….
You are correct. It does not take a genius to see the US is way overplaying this tactic of making accusations and then taking action on them without putting any proof on the table. In this age of massive surveillance and monitoring it is hard to belief the US has proof that the Iran did it that it would not show us.
If they have intercepts, no one is going to be surprised that the US has that ability. The public would not be surprised by anyone having it. So what the big deal is not on the media laying down on not hammering on this, but all the vet orgs sitting on their asses when a scam is in progress to deploy US military into a shooting gallery as bait for a false flag attack killing a lot of sailors that would have the public screaming for war.
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