UAE President, Iran National Security Secretary Discuss Issues of Common Interest

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 16, 2023. (WAM)
President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 16, 2023. (WAM)
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UAE President, Iran National Security Secretary Discuss Issues of Common Interest

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 16, 2023. (WAM)
President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 16, 2023. (WAM)

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received in Abi Dhabi on Thursday Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani.

Discussions focused on bilateral relations and ways to bolster cooperation between their countries in various fields to achieve common interests.

The officials also discussed regional and international developments of interest and the importance of supporting peace and cooperation in the region to meet the aspirations of their people for development and prosperity.

A day earlier, Shamkhani had met with UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed bilateral relations and ways to bolster and develop them to achieve mutual interests, especially in political, economic and trade fields.

They tackled several issues of common interest and underscored the importance of exerting efforts to achieve regional stability and prosperity.

Shamkhani was accompanied by senior economic, security and banking officials.

Iranian media had reported that Shamkhani would visit the UAE at an official invitation from Sheikh Tahnoun.

The UAE had downgraded its relations with Iran after Saudi Arabia severed ties with Tehran in January 2016.

Shamkhani visited the UAE a week after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore diplomatic relations.

Shamkhani told Sheikh Tahnoun that the “lack of trust in the strategic region overlooking the Gulf is preventing economic development, which is the goal of enemies from outside the region,” Iranian media quoted him as saying.

He stressed that “comprehensive, ongoing and constructive cooperation with neighbors is a firm strategy in Iran’s foreign policy,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported him as saying.

“Current challenges that don’t serve the interests of any country in the region should be resolved through cooperation and rapprochement, and away from disputes and animosity,” he added.

Moreover, he remarked that “disputes and lack of trust” were “serious obstacles in achieving economic development.”

“We must talk and work together and expand political, security and cultural cooperation to counter the unconstructive role of outsiders,” he added.

For his part, Sheikh Tahnoun said that “cooperation and friendship” between nations were a top priority to the UAE, IRNA reported.

On the Saudi-Iranian agreement, he told Shamkhani that it “will play a constructive role in expanding peace, stability and sustainable security in the region.”

“The development of friendly and fraternal relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran are among the UAE’s priorities,” he stated.

Furthermore, he added that Shamkhani’s visit was a “turning point in relations” between their countries and will give “a greater push in developing their ties,” according to IRNA.

Shamkhani noted that all countries in the region “share the same fate and are members of the same large family.”

“Family disputes must be resolved through dialogue, good intentions and forgiveness so that we can create a strong and developed region,” he added.

The exchange of economic, trade and investment relations is a top priority for Tehran in establishing ties with its neighbors, he went on to say.

He said he believed that his visit to the UAE will open a new chapter in political, security and economic relations between their countries.

Later on Thursday, Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs Ali Bagheri Kani revealed that his country will soon reinstate its ambassador to the UAE.

Arrangements to dispatch the envoy to the UAE have kicked off, Iranian media quoted him as saying.

Relations between Iran and the UAE “were never severed”, rather they were simply downgraded, he remarked.



US Senate Report Faults Secret Service Discipline after Trump Shooting

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. President-elect Donald Trump will choose Sean Curran, right, as Secret Service Director.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. President-elect Donald Trump will choose Sean Curran, right, as Secret Service Director. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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US Senate Report Faults Secret Service Discipline after Trump Shooting

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. President-elect Donald Trump will choose Sean Curran, right, as Secret Service Director.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. President-elect Donald Trump will choose Sean Curran, right, as Secret Service Director. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

A US Senate report released on Sunday said a "cascade" of failures allowed a gunman to shoot at Donald Trump during a campaign rally last year and faulted Secret Service discipline including the lack of firings in the wake of the attack.

The report, released a year after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear, accused the Secret Service of a pattern of negligence and communications breakdowns in planning and execution of the rally, said Reuters.

"This was not a single error. It was a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life," the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report said. The Secret Service is charged with protecting current and former presidents and their families, as well visiting foreign leaders and some other senior officials.

One attendee of the July 13, 2024, rally was killed and two others were injured in the shooting. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was subsequently shot to death by Secret Service agents.

"This was not a single lapse in judgment. It was a complete breakdown of security at every level — fueled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols, and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats," the committee's Republican chairman, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, said in a statement.

Kimberly Cheatle resigned as the director of the Secret Service 10 days after the shooting, amid harsh scrutiny of the agency's role, and six Secret Service agents on duty during the attempt received suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days, the agency said on Thursday.

The committee said more than six officials should have been punished, and that two of those who were disciplined received lighter punishments than it had recommended. It highlighted the fact that no one was fired.

Current Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement that the agency has received the report and will continue to cooperate with the committee.

"Following the events of July 13, the Secret Service took a serious look at our operations and implemented substantive reforms to address the failures that occurred that day," Curran said.