A meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Crown Prince of the United Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyane in Rabat earlier this week has “brought down tensions and moved the relationship between the UAE and the US back on the right track,” reports Axios.
According to diplomatic sources cited by Axios, the meeting in Rabat, part of Blinken’s regional visit, lasted two hours and started over discussions of “the tense relationship” between both countries.
“The talks quickly evolved to issues like the Houthi attacks on the UAE, Iran, Syria, the Abraham Accords and the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” seemingly agreeing to move on from the points of contention.
“Blinken told the Crown Prince the US remains committed to helping the UAE defend itself against threats from Yemen and elsewhere in the region,” according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Axios reports that “Blinken said before the meeting that many US initiatives around the world will be more effective if done in partnership with the UAE.”
Relations between both countries have been experiencing some tension for a little over a month, starting with the Biden administration’s refusal to redesignate the Houthis as a terror organization, following the group’s deadly terrorist attack in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
The UAE had subsequently abstained from the UN Security Council vote condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and reportedly refused to supply more oil to Russia-dependent markets.
These tensions seem to have been appeased by the Rabat meeting, as Axios points out that “only a day after the meeting, the US Treasury announced new sanctions on key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile program.”
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