UAE Exits USA’s Orbit, An Ordinary Irregularity or A Serious Development?
In the latest rapid developments in the recent months and weeks in the region, which was probably unexpected for many observers and experts in the region, the UAE officially announced that it has withdrawn from the American naval coalition in the Persian Gulf; Less than 24 hours later, another news made the surprise of the first news even more and, of course, probably easier to understand. The second news is that Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Oman form a joint navy.
Considering the public perception and image of relations between the countries of the Persian Gulf and the United States and our general knowledge of the region, the announcement of the UAE’s withdrawal from the US naval alliance was probably unexpected news, but since this news, like all phenomena in the world, cannot be without a background. In order to understand it better, it is necessary to pay attention to the contexts of its occurrence.
The UAE’s annoyance with America and the beginning of the story
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE government announced last Thursday that it withdrew from the US-led “Middle East Maritime Coalition” 2 months ago after evaluating security relations. This coalition was formed in 2019 under the leadership of the United States after a series of incidents and attacks on commercial ships and oil tankers.
According to Reuters, this coalition is an operational group consisting of 34 countries, which is headquartered in the US naval base in Bahrain, and whose main activity is “in the field of security, counter-terrorism, and counter-piracy” in the Red Sea and the surrounding areas. is the Persian Gulf. This area contains some of the most important shipping routes in the world, but since 2019, oil tankers have been regularly attacked or seized in this area.
“As a result of an ongoing assessment of our effective security cooperation with others, two months ago the UAE withdrew from participating in the Combined Maritime Forces,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Although the UAE government did not clearly state the reason for this action, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported one day before the UAE statement, citing informed interests, that after Iran seized two oil tankers on May 7th and 13th, the UAE government pressured America to take more serious measures against Iran’s actions in the Persian Gulf. One of these oil tankers was heading to Fujairah port in the UAE from Dubai.
Although, according to this American newspaper, the Biden administration has understood the concerns of the UAE and the US Navy has increased the number of its sea patrols; The announcement of the UAE’s official withdrawal from the American naval alliance can be a sign that Abu Dhabi considers these actions of the United States insufficient and is disappointed by Washington’s decisive actions and has announced its withdrawal from the alliance as a sign of annoyance and protest.
Of course, the UAE declared this Wall Street Journal report as a “misrepresentation of the talks between the UAE and the United States about maritime security”, but the American government and authorities have so far not officially reacted to this report and the action of the UAE, and it seems that they are not very willing to enter into this issue and clarify it. They have no case.
The second blow to Washington and the Zionist regime
The newspaper “Yediot Aharanot” of the Zionist regime, in analyzing the departure of the UAE from this maritime alliance, believes that this action of Abu Dhabi is a “new blow” to the anti-Iranian efforts of Washington and the Zionist regime, and wrote about this that the first blow was the restoration of relations between Tehran and Riyadh. And this action of Abu Dhabi is another blow to the efforts of America and Israel to form an international coalition against Iran.
Earlier, some world media had published analyses about Abu Dhabi’s distance from Washington. The economic magazine “Forbes” wrote in an analytical report that after Saudi Arabia, another Arab country, namely the UAE, may be removed from the orbit of America’s allies; The UAE, like Saudi Arabia, followed the example of America in many ways, but from now on, Abu Dhabi will work for the overall interests of the UAE.
But Kristian Ulrichsen, a researcher of Middle East issues at the Baker Institute of Public Policy affiliated with Rice University, believes that this action of the UAE is a sign of Abu Dhabi’s frustration with Washington.
In an interview on Al Jazeera, Ulrichsen said: “The UAE’s withdrawal seems to be consistent with the frustration expressed in Abu Dhabi that the United States is unwilling to actively protect its partners and re-establish credible deterrence in the Persian Gulf, however unfair it may be in reality.”.
According to Andreas Craig, an associate professor at the Department of Defense Studies at King’s College London, UAE-US relations are going through “a bit of trouble” and Abu Dhabi sees that the US has “continuously” failed in its role as a “guarantor of security in the region”. She eats. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Carik adds that this perception has forced actors and countries in the region to diversify their security partnerships and fill the gaps as much as they can.
According to Carrick, “The UAE is also backing away from US demands to cut ties with Russia and China… (because) they need to diversify their partnerships to meet their security interests, for example by expanding their ties with China and Russia, and Also, in the field of maritime cooperation, the United Arab Emirates sends the message to Washington that the United States also needs the support of the UAE and that the UAE also has leverage in these bilateral relations.
The final blow / Abu Dhabi next to Iran
Last Thursday, one day after the announcement of the UAE’s withdrawal from the US naval alliance, Qatar’s Al-Jadeed news website, quoting informed sources, announced that Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman will form a joint navy and that the consultations of these countries are in coordination with China and with the aim of ensuring Maritime security in the Persian Gulf has begun.
