UAE and Saudi Arabia join US-led naval patrols in the Middle East

United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have become the latest members to join the US-led coalition to protect vital oil shipping routes in the Middle East in the wake of the recent attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities.

Salem Mohammed Al Zaabi, director of the International Security Cooperation Department at the ministry of foreign affairs of UAE, said that the country joined the coalition to ensure global energy security and the continued flow of energy supplies to the global economy.

The two nations join the United Kingdom, Australia, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States in operations covering the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Oman.

“The Kingdom’s accession to the alliance comes in support of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threats to maritime navigation and global trade in order to secure freedom of navigation in the gulf amid heightened regional tensions,” said Saudi Press Agency.