Iraq and Iran top Clinton's visit agenda

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, meets Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, during a visit to the State Department in Washington in April 2009. The pair are to meet aShow more

ABU DHABI // Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, arrived in the capital late last night for a tour of the region, during which she will press Gulf allies for broader support of the new Iraqi government and discuss how to resolve the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme.
The impact that UN sanctions have on the UAE, one of Iran's largest trading partners, and how the country could better apply the sanctions would be on the agenda, state department officials said.
"Sanctions . we understand do hit hard countries that have had economic and commercial relations with the country being sanctioned," one senior state department official said. "These countries, in the case of the UAE, they're right across the water. Bandar Abbas is 150 miles from Dubai."
The UAE has pledged to enforce UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, a fourth round of which was passed last June. But Iranian traders in the country, many of whom have lived here for decades, say that legitimate business is being throttled as a result of tougher unilateral sanctions imposed by the US.
The US is also seeking the opinions of the UAE and neighbouring Gulf leaders on how to make talks between Iran and representatives of the UN Security Council plus Germany succeed, to "try and unknot this problem that we find ourselves in internationally with the Iranians and their nuclear ambitions", another senior state department official said.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume later this month in Istanbul. GCC countries often argue that the outcome of the talks impacts them directly and they should play a role in resolving the dispute.
In the capital, Mrs Clinton is scheduled to meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Later she will visit Dubai, where she will meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Mrs Clinton will speak at Zayed University and will also visit Masdar, the UAE's green city initiative.
Her visit comes at a crucial time for Iraq, which only recently formed a government that incorporated most major religious and ethnic groups in the country. It had suffered an eight-month paralysis following inconclusive elections in March of last year.
The US has 50,000 non-combat troops in Iraq who are scheduled to leave by the end of the year.
State department officials said that they hoped to elicit broader support for the new Iraqi government from leaders in the region.
"It is important for the region to step up and provide them support," one of the officials said. "It is important for Iraq, frankly, to be reintegrated back in the region."
One way, the official said, was for Gulf countries to open embassies in Iraq and to attend the Arab League summit scheduled to be held in Baghdad in March, and to issue public statements of support for the new government.
The UAE has already established an embassy in Iraq, and Sheikh Abdullah issued a statement congratulating the new Iraqi government when it was formed.
Ayad Allawi, the leader of Iraqiyya, the largest Sunni-backed political bloc, visited the UAE shortly after he announced that he was joining the new government in Iraq as head of a national strategic policy committee.
Mrs Clinton will also visit Oman and Qatar.
The secretary's visit will emphasise the role that civil society has to play in the Gulf, including ways to tackle social issues like child marriage or domestic violence, promoting business development and the role of young people, who make up the majority of the region's population, in development.
 
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