U.A.E. Says It Exited U.S.-Led Naval Force

Led by the top U.S. admiral in Bahrain, the coalition—known as the Combined Maritime Forces, or CMF—brings together 38 nations that work together to combat Iranian attacks on commercial ships, weapons smuggling and piracy. The coalition, which includes the U.K., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Germany, is the largest such maritime security force in the world.

Two months ago, U.S. officials said, the U.A.E. pulled its representatives from the coalition’s headquarters in Bahrain, but didn’t indicate that it was doing so because of any dissatisfaction with American-led security efforts. 

Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, which oversees the military coalition, said Wednesday that the U.A.E. is still a member of the group and that participation ebbs and flows, depending on various needs.

“CMF remains a multinational partnership of 38 nations, of which the U.A.E. is one,” he said. “Participation is typically rotational for many of our partners.”

The U.A.E. announcement came a day after a Wall Street Journal article about the nation’s frustrations with American efforts to protect commercial ships from Iranian attacks in the region.

Emirati officials told U.S. officials that they were unhappy with American-led security efforts in the region earlier this month, after Iran seized two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz on April 27 and May 3, according to American and Gulf officials. 

One tanker was carrying a shipment of Kuwaiti crude oil to Houston for , while the second was transiting between the Emirati port cities of Dubai and Fujairah. 

In particular, the seizure of the second ship—which had left Dubai—incensed U.A.E. officials because it fueled the impression that the U.S. and its allies couldn’t protect commercial traffic in the Persian Gulf, the officials said.

One American official compared the U.A.E.’s response to its angry reaction in January 2022, when the U.S. was slow to come to the Gulf nation’s aid after Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen launched a deadly drone attack at the U.A.E. capital of Abu Dhabi that killed three people. 

That Houthi strike, which Emirati officials called their 9/11, led to months of increased political tensions between Abu Dhabi and Washington.

Gulf officials say the U.S. has failed to do enough to deter attacks in recent years from Iran and its proxies, undermining their faith in Washington’s commitment to the region.

As part of the U.S. military response to Iran’s seizure of the tankers, an American guided-missile destroyer and Emirati Navy vessel sailed together last week in the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, American and Qatari military personnel took part in a joint surveillance patrol over the strait in a Navy plane.

The release from the Foreign Ministry Wednesday said unspecified news reports had mischaracterized “U.S.-U.A.E. conversations regarding maritime security.” 

“The U.A.E. is committed to peaceful dialogue and diplomatic engagement as a means of advancing the shared goals of regional security and stability,” the ministry said. “As a result of our ongoing evaluation of effective security cooperation with all partners, two months ago, the U.A.E. withdrew its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces.”

Officials at the Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to requests for clarity about the announcement. 

Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected] and Dion Nissenbaum at [email protected]