News - Middle East: The United Arab Emirates is seeking an “ironclad” defense agreement with the United States, a senior Emirati official said during an Al-Monitor event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

“It is important to move from the informal to something that's formal,” Anwar Gargash, senior adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said.

“It has to be ironclad,” Gargash said. “From our perspective, the US commitment to the region since 1976 with the Carter Doctrine has done quite well. But the world is changing, the region is changing, technology is changing.” He added, “As a result, we believe in principle with the idea of moving from an informal sort of understanding to a formal commitment."

Gargash’s comments come less than a week after the United States inked a bilateral defense and technology agreement with Bahrain to upgrade Washington’s support for the Gulf kingdom, a major non-NATO ally that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Gulf countries that host American military troops, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have long sought mutual defense agreements with Washington as Iran continues to aim to expel US forces from the region.

Gargash’s comments came a day after The New York Times reported the Biden administration has been in talks with Saudi Arabia over a possible defense agreement akin to Washington’s existing treaties with Japan and South Korea — a major step that is likely to face resistance among powerful lawmakers in Congress, including Democrats.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, claiming the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power.

The war, which has been enjoying unstinting arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the United States, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Source: Al Monitor