US suddenly apologizes to its oil-rich Gulf ally

On April 14, Axios website reported today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken apologized to the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohammed bin Zayed during a meeting in Morocco last month.

According to Axios, Secretary of State Blinken’s gesture was clearly intended to defuse US-UAE relations following Washington’s response to the Houthi rebels’ attack on the UAE in January.

During the meeting, Blinken acknowledged that the Joe Biden administration’s response to the attack was not quick enough and said he regretted it, according to Axios sources.

“Secretary Blinken made it clear that the United States values ​​our partnership with UAE and we will continue to stand with our partners in the face of common threats,” a senior State Department official told Axios.

In January, Yemen’s Houthi rebels sent drones to attack the UAE’s capital, killing three people and injuring six. Rebels say the attack came in retaliation for the UAE’s support of an international coalition bombing Yemen. Coalition by Saudi Arabia led the response with more airstrikes on Yemen that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 100.

Washington condemned the attack on Abu Dhabi. “We will work with the UAE and international partners to hold the Houthis accountable,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on the day of the attack. “Our commitment to the security of the UAE remains unchanged and we stand with our UAE partners against any threat to its territory,” added Mr. Sullivan.

However, the UAE is said to have been frustrated by Washington’s failure to designate Yemen’s Houthi movement as a terrorist organization and send more military aid.

Earlier, the United Nations said, the designation Houthis is a terrorist group that will only exacerbate the Yemen conflict. Humanitarian groups have also expressed concern that such labeling of the rebels would hinder the delivery of aid to the country experiencing a humanitarian disaster.

In February, during a visit to the UAE, US General McKenzie was refused to meet by the UAE leadership – the WSJ reported, citing a local official.

Abu Dhabi has also refused to vote in favor of a UN resolution criticizing its military activity Russia in Ukraineand also abstained at the United Nations General Assembly on the exclusion of Russia from the Human Rights Council.

In March, UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba acknowledged that US-UAE relations were strained. “Like any relationship, the U.S.-UAE relationship has its moments of strength, its health, and its times of tension. Today we are going through a stressful test, but I am confident that we will overcome it and move to a better position,” said Otaiba.

Mr Blinken’s attempt to reconcile with the Crown Prince is said to have paid off. After a meeting in Morocco in March, the special envoy for Abu Dhabi told Axios that Mr Blinken had helped “get the relationship between the UAE and the US back on track”.

The United Arab Emirates remains a key US military ally in the region, with nearly 2,000 US troops and pilots based at Abu Dhabi’s al-Dhafra airbase.

Both countries support Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war against the Houthis in Yemen, although the US stopped “offensive” operations there last year and the UAE withdrew its troops on the ground in early 2020. , the Emirates continue to support anti-Houthi groups on the ground, and the United States continues to support Saudi Arabia and its allies by selling weaponsintelligence sharing and defense support.

Yemen’s civil war – the Houthis’ civil war against the Saudi-backed government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and several other factions – is now in its eighth year, claiming the lives of some 233,000 people. The conflict has been described by the United Nations as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” with 20 million Yemenis starving and malnourished.

In early April, a UN-brokered ceasefire was announced in Yemen. The truce coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Just days later, the exiled president Hadi handed over power to a new presidential council.