US-UAE defence agreement comes into force, following Bolton visit

The United States and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday announced that mutual defence cooperation agreement had come into force, amid increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

"The DCA (Defense Cooperation Agreement) will enhance military coordination between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, further advancing an already robust military, political, and economic partnership at a critical time," a joint statement said.

"The United States and the United Arab Emirates share a deep interest in promoting prosperity and stability in the region."

"The DCA will advance that interest by fostering closer collaboration on defense and security matters and supporting efforts by both nations to maintain security in the Gulf region."

US national security advisor John Bolton was in Abu Dhabi Wednesday, meeting his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Bolton said Iran was almost certainly behind recent oil tanker attacks that sent Gulf tensions soaring. Riyadh's regional rival Tehran dismissed the accusation as "laughable".

President Donald Trump's national security adviser warned Iran on Wednesday that any attacks in the Persian Gulf will draw a "very strong response" from the US, taking a hard-line approach with Tehran after his boss only two days earlier said America wasn't "looking to hurt Iran at all."

Bolton spoke to journalists in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which only days earlier saw former Defence Secretary Jim Mattis warn there that "unilateralism will not work" in confronting the Islamic Republic.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has repeatedly criticised Bolton as a warmonger. 

Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said later Wednesday Bolton's remarks were a "ridiculous accusation."

Separately in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani said that the "road is not closed" when it comes to talks with the US — if America returns to the nuclear deal. However, the relatively moderate Rouhani faces increasing criticism from hard-liners and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the collapsing accord.

This came on the eve of emergency Arab and Gulf summits called by Saudi Arabia to discuss the stand-off and ways to isolate Tehran.

Two Saudi oil tankers, among four vessels, were the targets of mysterious acts of sabotage off the UAE this month, and Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels have stepped up drone attacks on the kingdom, one of which resulted in the temporary shutdown of a major oil pipeline.

Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of being the mastermind behind the Yemeni rebels' attack on the pipeline, while an investigation has been launched into the attacks on ships off the UAE.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump bypassed Congress to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, citing the alleged threat from Iran.

Earlier this month, on the first anniversary of Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Tehran announced it would begin to back away from the agreement.

The accord saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump pulled out of the accord as he said it didn't go far enough in limiting the Iranian nuclear program, nor did it address Iran's ballistic missile program.

Bolton said that without more nuclear power plants, it made no sense for Iran to stockpile more low-enriched uranium as it now plans to do. But the US also earlier cut off Iran's ability to sell its uranium to Russia in exchange for unprocessed yellow-cake uranium.

Iran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to offer better terms to the unraveling nuclear deal, otherwise, it will resume enrichment closer to weapons level. Bolton declined to say what the US would do in response to that.

"There's no reason for them to do any of that unless that's part of an effort to reduce the breakout time to produce nuclear weapons," Bolton said. "That's a very serious issue if they continue to do that."

Bolton's trip to the UAE comes just days after Trump in Tokyo appeared to welcome negotiations with Iran.

"We're not looking for regime change — I just want to make that clear," Trump said. "We're looking for no nuclear weapons."

But Bolton himself, for years before becoming national security adviser, called for overthrowing Iran's government in interviews and in a paid speaking engagement before an Iranian exile group.

"I don't back away from any of it. Those are positions I took as a private citizen," Bolton said when asked about his prior remarks. "Right now I'm a government official. I advise the president.
I'm the national security adviser, not the national security decision-maker. It's up to him to make those decisions."

He also dismissed reports that he faced criticism from Trump over his hard-line stance with what he described as an old proverb: "The dogs bark and the caravan moves on."