ABU DHABI // Britain’s foreign secretary says he hopes Arabian Gulf countries will play a bigger role in addressing regional issues such as curtailing the influence of ISIL and Iran.
Philip Hammond was in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a one-day visit and had a meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Mr Hammond said he had a “long and thought-provoking discussion about the region” with Sheikh Mohammed.
He also voiced his hope that the “Arab voices of the Gulf will play a louder and more prominent role in the post-ISIL settlement in Iraq” as well as “to counter the influence of Iran in that country”.
The GCC has long expressed concern about Tehran’s interference in the Arabian Gulf’s affairs.
“Although the nuclear deal has been a success and Iran has abandoned its nuclear aspirations, that does not mean it has stopped interfering in the region,” Mr Hammond said.
“It does not mean Iran has stopped sponsoring terrorism and it does not mean it has stopped illegal missile testing, and all of those things remain a major problem.
“We will continue to challenge Iran when it is doing any of those things and I think this is the position of our Gulf partners.”
On Yemen, the UK foreign secretary said the peace talks in Kuwait would have to lead to a settlement. “We [Britain and the UAE] work very closely together on defence, security and intelligence matters and we will continue to do so,” he said.
“It is for the UAE Government to decide how it wants to participate in the GCC and wider coalition effort against ISIL, to stabilise Yemen, to deal with the challenges of stabilisation in Iraq and the humanitarian challenges in Syria.”
The UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are part of a 10-nation coalition that is conducting a military operation in Yemen with Britain’s support.
Mr Hammond said he appreciated the UAE’s commitment in Yemen, which was “being made both to help the humanitarian situation to try to prevent more loss of life, to stabilise these countries and when necessary, to confront by force the enemy when it appears. And we know the UAE has suffered considerable loss of life among its military forces in doing so”.
On Syria, Mr Hammond said he hoped the US negotiations with the Russians would halt hostilities, provide humanitarian access to the besieged cities and make political progress in the removal of president Bashar Al Assad. “We all recognise that this cannot be an open-ended process,” said Mr Hammond.
“If the discussion with the Russians does not deliver fruit soon, then we will have to look for a different route forward.”
Mr Hammond’s last visit to the UAE was in last October, when he met Sheikh Mohammed to assess regional hot spots.
Analysts said Britain’s relationship with the UAE was at an all-time high.
Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at UAE University, said Mr Hammond’s visit was an occasion to review the war in Yemen and the battle against ISIL in Syria and Iraq. “The question is what needs to be done for the post-war Yemen. The central challenge is how to stabilise Yemen and help it overcome the war trauma,” he said.
Dr Albadr Al Shateri, an adjunct professor at the National Defence College, said Mr Hammond’s visit came as the United States’ role in the region diminished. “Britain seems to be more assertive of its role in the region, especially after it decided to establish a new naval base in Bahrain,” he said.
cmalek@thenational.ae
