Israeli, UAE officials reportedly met in secret in US to discuss countering Iran

Times of Israel staff — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 03:35:48 +0000

National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Emirati envoy to DC said to have held talks at White House in December on Tehran, non-aggression pact between Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem.

Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba at an event with then-US House Speaker Paul Ryan, at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

The White House in December hosted a secret meeting last December with officials from Israel, the US, and the United Arab Emirates to discuss countering Iranian influence in the Middle East.

The officials discussed better coordinating their positions against Iran, and the possibility of advancing a non-aggression pact between Israel and the UAE, which could mark a possible step toward normalizing relations between the countries.

Attending the December 17 meeting were Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, and the Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, who is considered close to the UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahayan.

The US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, and Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates also attended.

Israel’s Channel 13 and the US news site Axios first reported the meeting on Tuesday, citing senior Israeli and American officials as sources.

Meir Ben-Shabbat, the head of the National Security Council, speaks at a trilateral meeting in Jerusalem of the Israeli, US and Russian national security advisers on June 25, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

The reports said that the meeting spurred a tweet several days later by the Emirati foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan apparently in support of warming Israel-UAE ties.

Al Nahyan, the UAE’s top diplomat, tweeted a link to an article titled “Islam’s reformation: an Arab-Israeli alliance is taking shape in the Middle East.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, writing “I welcome the closer relations between Israel and many Arab states. The time has come for normalization and peace.”

Jerusalem is said to have developed clandestine ties with numerous Arab countries in recent years over the countries’ shared antipathy toward Iran and the need to counter jihadism.

Israeli officials have also openly visited several such countries recently. In October 2018, Netanyahu was welcomed to Oman by the country’s then-ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said. That same month Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev traveled to Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, where Israel’s national anthem was played for the first time in the Arabian peninsula following Israeli judoka Sagi Muki’s first-place win.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman in the Gulf state on October 26, 2018. (Courtesy)

Israel has also been invited to participate at the Expo 2020 in the UAE city of Dubai.

In June, Bahrain’s foreign minister told the Times of Israel his country wished for peace with the Jewish state.

In October, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was advancing non-aggression treaties with several Arab nations in the Gulf, a “historic” démarche he said that could end the conflict between Jerusalem and those states.

Arab leaders, however, have also indicated that true normalization can not take place so long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not resolved.

The UAE ambassador to Washington, along with envoys from Bahrain and Oman, attended the January 28 unveiling of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal in a tacit sign of support for the US initiative.

The UAE issued the most complimentary statement on the plan of any Arab state, calling it “a serious initiative” and stating that it “offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a US-led international framework.”

The UAE also signed on to an Arab League rejection of the plan, however.

Arab countries in the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, view Iran as a major regional foe and strongly oppose its support for armed groups throughout the Middle East.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-uae-officials-reportedly-met-in-secret-in-us-to-discuss-countering-iran/

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US calls for EU sanctions on Iranian ballistic program

I24 News — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 08:33:55 +0000

In this Oct. 23, 2018 photo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters at a news conference at the State Department in Washington. The Trump administration is calling for a halt to the civil war in Yemen, including airstrikes by the Arab-led coal —AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

In Paris, the French foreign ministry also condemned the Iranian missile test as “provocative and destabilizin

The United States urged the European Union on Monday to apply sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program, calling it a “grave and escalating threat.”

Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged that Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

He said the test violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear deal signed by world powers with the Islamic republic.

“As we have been warning for some time, Iran’s missile testing and missile proliferation is growing. We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence,” Pompeo said.

The secretary met with the Israeli premier on Monday in Brussels for talks focusing on joint efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry also condemned the Iranian missile test as “provocative and destabilizing,” and noted that it was not in compliance with the UN resolution.

France “calls on Iran to immediately cease all activity linked to ballistic missiles conceived to carry nuclear weapons, including all launches using ballistic missile technology,” it said.

FILE: In this photo provided Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, by the Iranian Army, a Sayyad 2 missile is fired by the Talash air defense system during drills in an undisclosed location in Iran. Iran greeted the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Monday with air defe (Iranian Army via AP)

Washington’s Iran special envoy Brian Hook insisted that despite Tehran’s assertions to the contrary, Iran’s missile tests were not defensive in nature.

“We would like to see the European Union move sanctions that target Iran’s missile program,” Hook told reporters aboard Pompeo’s plane as he traveled to Brussels for a NATO meeting.

Hook said President Donald Trump’s campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal “can be effective if more nations can join us in those (sanctions).”

“It is a grave and escalating threat, and nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran’s missile program,” he added.

Hook said “progress” was being made on getting NATO allies to consider a proposal to target individuals and entities that play key roles in Iran’s missile program.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran.

EU countries have denounced the move and are working to preserve the nuclear deal, even though they have also criticized Iranian positions on other matters.

Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/190178-181203-us-calls-for-eu-sanctions-on-iranian-ballistic-program

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The post US calls for EU sanctions on Iranian ballistic program first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

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Israeli, UAE officials reportedly met in secret in US to discuss countering Iran

US calls for EU sanctions on Iranian ballistic program