New York // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, will meet the US president at the White House on Monday to discuss their cooperation in Yemen and against ISIL and extremism.
UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba yesterday said Sheikh Mohammed, also Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, would meet Barack Obama to discuss regional security and bilateral issues.
He will be accompanied by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy National Security Adviser.
“The US and the UAE share strong ties and the two leaders will explore how to further strengthen this partnership in areas ranging from defence cooperation to climate change,” the White House said on Tuesday.
The summit comes after the US president announced earlier this month that he hoped to meet sometime in the spring with foreign ministers from all GCC countries to address their concerns over the framework deal over Iran's nuclear programme.
Gulf countries’ most pressing concerns over a final deal is that dropping sanctions would allow Tehran to press its strategy in the Middle East, and that the US would be less committed to stopping it.
The multilateral summit with the GCC ministers, however, has not been formally agreed to, and it was unclear if Monday’s direct talks were a prelude to the wider summit.
The White House said the agenda would also include Yemen, preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons and “how best to resolve the conflicts in Libya and Syria”.
tkhan@thenational.ae
