Washington aligned with UAE on Iran, fighting terrorism: US Congress Speaker.

Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said today that Washington was aligned with its "staunch allies in UAE and Saudi Arabia" on its approach towards the threats posed by Iran to regional stability. He added that the USA had identical views to those of Abu Dhabi and Riyadh on the necessity of fighting sources of terrorism.

In a meeting at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, the US top official reiterated his country's focus on the issue of the Iranian threat to the region's states, saying "the US sees eye to eye with the UAE and Saudi Arabia on the necessity of preventing Iran from extending its grip on other countries in the region."

"The US Congress sees the issue the same way the UAE and Saudi Arabia are seeing it," Ryan added.

The meeting included a panel session involving the UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, who noted that the Speaker's visit to the region was proof that the alignment in views between the UAE and the USA goes beyond the executive authority and the White House to include the US Congress as well.

The United States is in talks with European countries about tightening sanctions on Iran over its missile programme and foreign policy, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said during the meeting, which was hosted by the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, and was attended by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and a number of statesmen.

"Look at their (Iran) violations of missile testing, look at what they’re doing in the region, look at what they’re doing in Syria, look at what they’re doing in Yemen," Ryan said.

He added that Iran is seeking to expand its influence in the region at the expense of staunch US allies like the UAE and Saudi Arabia and needed to be constrained by sanctions.

Ryan said the European Union should follow suit, underscoring a 120-day ultimatum President Donald Trump gave the US Congress as well as the European allies, Britain, France, Germany to come up with a tougher approach toward Iran or else see the US President re-impose full sanctions.

"There’s more that we can do from the economic side. We have the tools we can use along with our allies . That’s the discussion we’re having about tightening up sanctions and trying to get Europe involved in that," he added.

There are more than 49 million mobile phones being used in Iran, which means that the Iranian people have started to realise the progress taking place around them in different parts of the world, he said, noting that the Iranian regime is more concerned with funding terrorism in other countries than ensuring the welfare of their own people.

The US has its own allies in the region, including the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, with whom it's working to establish peace and prevent Iran from destabilising the region and the world.

He reiterated US determination to put an end to fanaticism and the radical Islamic represented by Daesh, and al Al- Qaeda, and preventing Iran from establishing new terror groups like Hizbollah.

The US official expressed his wish to see more UAE students learning in the USA and more US students and companies coming to UAE in order to further strengthen mutual understanding and underpin socio-cultural cooperation between the two sides, which will certainly reflect on the economic level.

For his part, the UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba said, "The problem with Iran goes beyond the nuclear file. The biggest problem is Iran’s support for terrorism and its funding and its interferences in the internal affairs of the region’s countries."

He underlined the paramount importance of diplomacy in strengthening relations between world peoples, noting that the US speaker's visit "reflects why it's so important for the UAE and US to work at all levels to further boost bilateral ties; not only on the military and political levels, but also on the cultural, intelligence, social, sports and educational levels."

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