A cable released as part of the ongoing Wikileakscontroversy indicates that the Gulf Countries felt left out of the U.S. sanctions planning against Iran. According to the cable, which describes a February 2010 meeting between U.S. officials and members of Congress and officials from the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), officials from the UAE stated that there was a growing concern amongst the United States’ Gulf allies that they were being shut out of Iran sanctions planning.

During the meeting U.S. officials asked whether tougher sanctions against Iran would be helpful and how the UAE can help with China. Officials from the UAE stated that they were surprised by China’s position and that the US and its allies “have to decide how to stop Iran.” It was also noted that the Emiratis and the Saudis had spoken to the Chinese and while there was interest expressed over
expanding energy ties with China, there still seemed to be a great bit of difficulty in supplanting an Iran-China trade relationship that had reached $50 billion in 2009.

UAE officials also urged quick action on tough new sanctions and noted that while they have been conscientious in their efforts to enforce existing international sanctions against Iran, the Iranians have been able to find other routes to import what they need bypassing UAE ports in the process. Although UAE officials pushed the US to implement new sanctions, they also the implementation of new sanctions could still be ineffective.

While being supportive of new sanctions, the UAE officials also highlighted a growing belief the that UAE and the other Gulf Countries were being left out of U.S. Iran sanctions consultations. In addition, they stated that the P5+1negotiations with Iran should be expanded to included the Gulf Countries, noting the belief that there is a “trust barrier” to full Gulf Country support for US policy, as there is a deep suspicion that the US is proceeding without consulting Gulf allies. US officials responded by reminding the UAE officials that there are extensive and privileged communications between the UAE and the US on policy towards Iran and on sanctions planning. UAE officials acknowledged there was trust from the UAE, but the rest of the Gulf Countries had continuing concerns. One UAE official commented, “Your problem today is to fix your relations with the GCC, quickly. A few countries in the region are already dealing with Iran as if they had the bomb.”

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC litigation. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.