Al-Monitor/Semafor summit: UAE seeks ‘ironclad’ defense agreement from the US, Anwar Gargash says

NEW YORK — The United Arab Emirates is seeking an “ironclad” defense agreement with the United States, a senior Emirati official said during an Al-Monitor event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

“It is important to move from the informal to something that's formal,” Anwar Gargash, senior adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, told Al-Monitor’s Joyce Karam.

“It has to be ironclad,” Gargash said. “From our perspective, the US commitment to the region since 1976 with the Carter Doctrine has done quite well. But the world is changing, the region is changing, technology is changing.” He added, “As a result, we believe in principle with the idea of moving from an informal sort of understanding to a formal commitment."

Why it matters: The Biden administration is taking a piecemeal approach toward its goal of building a broad Middle Eastern defensive coalition intended to deter attacks by Iran.