The UAE Suspended Its Participation with American Lead Military Bloc

 

by Kyle Anzalone | May 31, 2023

Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Logo

Abu Dhabi has halted its involvement with a Washington-led coalition aimed at preventing Iranian ship seizures in the Middle East. The UAE disclosed the decision the day after the Wall Street Journal reported growing discord between Abu Dhabi and Washington over the region’s lack of American military assets. 

On Tuesday, a WSJ detailed the growing frustration in Dhabi over Washington not taking a more muscular response to Iran seizing two ships. The UAE’s state media service announced its pull back from the bloc  – dubbed the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) – on Wednesday. 

“As a result of our ongoing evaluation of effective security cooperation with all partners, two months ago, the UAE withdrew its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces,” Dhabi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 

Dhabi claimed the WSJ mischaracterized the rift in the CMF, and the Pentagon confirmed The UAE remained a member of the coalition. An American official described the UAE’s suspension from conducting operations with the bloc as an “angry reaction” to Washington not doing more in response to Iran seizing a ship in the Gulf. 

In April, Washington seized the Suez Rajan, a tanker carrying Iranian oil to China. Five days later, Iran confiscated a US-bound Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, the Advantage Sweet, in the Persian Gulf. On May 3, Iranian forces took control over a second ship in the Gulf. An American official told the Financial Times the seizures ordered by Tehran “appear to be in retaliation for a prior US seizure of Iranian oil.”

In response to Tehran capturing two cargo ships, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby announced a plan to expand America’s military posture in the Middle East. “Today, the Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the [Persian] Gulf.” He said, “US central command will provide additional details on those reinforcements in coming days.”

However, a Pentagon spokesperson later told the New York Times that Washington would not send additional military assets to the region and was limiting its response to increasing the number of patrols conducted by Americans already stationed in the Middle East. 

Abu Dhabi’s step back from the CMF comes as Washington’s dominance over the Middle East is waning, and Beijing is taking on a more prominent role. American officials have pressured the UAE to deny China a military facility in the country. However, the Emaratis continue to strengthen their relationship with Beijing. 

China recently flexed its new diplomatic muscle in the region by successfully brokering a normalization agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Washington has its own frustrations with its Mid East partners for not adopting America’s economic war on Russia that was rolled out after the invasion of Ukraine. 

About Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.
https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/the-uae-suspended-its-participation-with-american-lead-military-bloc/