Mike Pompeo and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed discuss vexing regional issues

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hosted United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed at the State Department on Wednesday one day after the signing of the Abraham Accords.

“The Secretary commended the Foreign Minister for the monumental accomplishment of the Abraham Accords and thanked him for his participation in the White House signing ceremony,” a statement by the State Department said.

Regional issues including Iran’s behaviour, the Qatar crisis were also discussed. “They discussed regional and bilateral issues of concern, including the need to overcome divisions between Gulf countries and work to continue countering Iran’s malign influence in the region.”

In a tweet, Mr Pompeo said:

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Pompeo addressed Iran and said snapback sanctions will return next week following United Nation’s failure to pass an extension of the arms embargo.

“We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions so that the arms embargo will become permanent next week. We believe deeply that this is good for the peoples of all nations,” Mr Pompeo said.

Virtually all UN sanctions on Iran will come back into place this weekend at 8pm. Eastern Time on Saturday the 19th

Elliott Abrams

US Special Representative on Venezuela and Iran Elliott Abrams said on Wednesday that the snapback sanctions will be imposed this Saturday. “Virtually all UN sanctions on Iran will come back into place this weekend at 8pm. Eastern Time on Saturday the 19th.

The arms embargo will now be reimposed indefinitely and other restrictions will return, including the ban on Iran engaging in enrichment and reprocessing-related activities, the prohibition on ballistic missile testing and development, and sanctions on the transfer of nuclear and missile-related technologies to Iran,” Mr Abrams told reporters.

It is unclear, however, if other European allies of the US will implement such sanctions. The US envoy said that failure to do so could subject actors and individuals to scrutiny from the American financial system.

In the past “individuals, businesspersons, banks, companies around the world paid attention to the sanctions and did not wish to violate them” he said.

“All of those individual actors around the world will take a look at the text of those sanctions and what the United States is saying and will realise that, for them, the UN sanctions must be regarded as back into effect,” the US official explained.

Mr Abrams faulted the UN for its failure to renew the arms embargo due to expire on October 18.

“It is astonishing that anyone would think or have thought it sensible to allow the arms embargo on Iran to expire next month, given the regime’s role in destabilising Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon and its continuing support for terrorism,” he said.

The UN security council failed to pass a US draft resolution extending the embargo this month.