UAE joins international alliance to protect Gulf shipping

The UAE has announced plans to join a US-led coalition that aims to protect shipping in the Gulf following the attacks on Aramco’s oil facilities, official news agency WAM reported on Thursday.

The UAE joined the alliance “to deter threats to maritime navigation and global trade, and in order to secure the flow of energy supplies to the global economy and contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security”, the report quoted Salem Mohammed Al Zaabi, director of the International Security Cooperation Department at the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as saying.

The alliance protects the interests of its members and their merchant ships when passing through maritime corridors.

Its operation area covers the Strait of Hormuz, Bab Al Mandab, the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.

The US formed the coalition after attacks on oil tankers as well as Iran’s seizure of tankers in the region. Iran denies being behind the tanker attacks.

Saudi Arabia joined the coalition earlier this week, while Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom are also part of it.

Tensions in the region have risen after two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked on Saturday. US officials have blamed the attacks on Iran while Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has said that investigations of “debris and wreckage” show “it belongs to the Iranian regime”.

Read: Saudi says Iranian weapons used to attack oil facilities