UAE for alliance to protect shipping

Moscow - Sheikh Abdullah said the project would involve regional and other "oil exporting and importing" countries.

The UAE said on Wednesday discussions were under way for a global coalition to protect oil shipping lanes in the region.
This statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan confirmed comments from a senior US State Department official who said on Monday that the US Navy was building a "proactive deterrence" programme that would see a coalition of nations provide both material and financial contributions in this regard.
Sheikh Abdullah said the project would involve regional and other "oil exporting and importing" countries.
Addressing a news conference in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Sheikh Abdullah said that clear and convincing evidence was needed to apportion blame for attacks last month on four oil tankers off the UAE coast, and that tensions in the region needed to be dialled down.
The US and Saudi Arabia have publicly blamed Iran for that attack and a subsequent one on two vessels in the Gulf of Oman.
The UAE has submitted the results of an investigation into the first attack, which showed that a state entity was behind them, without naming the country. If a country was to be identified, "this evidence must be clear and precise and scientific and convincing for the international community", Sheikh Abdullah said. The UAE also did not want "more turbulence and...more worries" in the region.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he was "not talking boots on the ground" should military action be necessary against Iran, and said any conflict would not last long. Asked if a war was brewing, Trump told Fox Business Network: "I hope we don't but we're in a very strong position if something should happen."

• UAE