UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reputation as a brazen leader who has ruthlessly silenced critics and dissent will cast a shadow over his meeting on Friday with U.S. President Joe Biden.

DUBAI, July 14 (Reuters) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic will have a "harsh and regrettable response" to any "mistake" committed by Washington or its allies.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge on Thursday to deny Iran nuclear arms, a show of unity by allies long divided over diplomacy with Tehran.

13 July 2022; MEMO: The President of the United Arab Emirates said, on Wednesday, the Gulf OPEC producer would continue to support global energy security as a main driver of global economic growth, ahead of a US-Arab summit in neighbouring Saudi Arabia this week, Reuters reports.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in his first televised address since becoming President in May, also said the UAE would extend a "hand of friendship" to all countries that share values of peaceful co-existence and mutual respect.

08 July 2022; MEMO: The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals yesterday sentenced Israeli woman, Fida Kiwan, to life over possession of an illegal substance, after commuting her death sentence last week, her defence team said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A British Royal Navy vessel seized a sophisticated shipment of Iranian missiles in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, officials said Thursday, pointing to the interdiction as proof of Tehran’s support for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the embattled country.

The British government statement was striking in that it provided some of the strongest findings to date that Tehran is arming the Houthis against the Saudi-led military coalition with advanced weapons smuggled through the Persian Gulf.

DUBAI, July 6 (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained several foreigners, including Britain's second most senior envoy in Tehran, for alleged acts of spying such as taking soil samples in restricted areas, state television reported on Wednesday.

It did not say whether those detained were still under arrest. Britain said the reports were "completely false".

"These spies were taking earth samples in Iran's central desert where the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace missile exercises were conducted," state TV said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet is starting to offer rewards for information that could help sailors intercept weapons, drugs and other illicit shipments across the region amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran’s arming of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

While avoiding directly mentioning Iran, the 5th Fleet’s decision to offer cash and other goods for actionable intelligence in the Persian Gulf and other strategic waterways may increase pressure on the flow of weapons to the Houthis as a shaky cease-fire still holds in Yemen.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Indirect negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers have ended without breaking a deadlock over the talks, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department and the European Union, which is mediating the talks in Qatar, did not immediately acknowledge the end of the negotiations in Doha.

27 June 2022; MEMO: A senior Emirati officer from the UAE army will be joining the Israel National Defence College next year, to train under the Israeli military for 10 months, Arab48.com reported today.

The officer, a graduate of the College of National Security in the Emirates, which is run according to the American curriculum, enrolled after UAE President, Mohammed Bin Zayed, granted his approval.

22 June 2022; MEMO: A new joint venture into Africa between the UAE and Israel has been agreed in a deal that will see Tel Aviv reap further rewards from the Arab country's normalisation with the apartheid state.