By Reuters,
Washington : The Bush administration is holding back on signing a nuclear agreement with the United Arab Emirates due to concern by some lawmakers that the UAE is not doing enough to curb Iran’s nuclear plans.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday there was agreement with the UAE on the text of the deal but it was unclear when it could be signed as consultations were ongoing with U.S. lawmakers.
“There are consultations with the (lawmakers on Capitol) Hill,” McCormack told reporters when asked if there was a delay in signing the deal.
“There are many, many steps that must be taken before you have an agreement that actually enters into force,” he added.
Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lethinen, the ranking Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced legislation this week blocking the deal unless stringent conditions were met.
“The unwillingness of the UAE to fully cooperate with international efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear program and to curb Tehran’s ambitions to dominate the Persian Gulf should give our policymakers some pause before moving forward,” said Ros-Lehtinen.
The United States is at loggerheads with Iran, just across the Gulf from the UAE, over its nuclear program and fears it is trying to build an atomic bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful power generation.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE last April to cooperate on a peaceful nuclear energy program, with the UAE promising to be a “responsible partner.”
“We have engaged the UAE on this topic, because we think it is an important way for countries in the region to potentially realize peaceful uses of nuclear energy and clearly prescribing the limits of the use of nuclear technology,” said McCormack.
Asked about fears such a deal might spark an arms race in the region, McCormack said: “We think actually just the opposite.”
The UAE has promised to draw up laws to govern the sector and establish a nuclear regulatory authority and an international advisory board of nuclear experts as well as to seek assistance from other governments.
The UAE has already signed a nuclear cooperation deal with France and its leaders have said the Emirates will work closely with the U.N.’s energy watchdog, the IAEA, for its planned nuclear programs to assure the world it remains peaceful.
“They’ve demonstrated that they are a very responsible partner in a number of different areas,” said McCormack.