阿布扎比，阿拉伯联合酋长国——拜登政府的高级官员和美国参议员周一在中东穿梭，试图缓解海湾阿拉伯伙伴对美国重新参与中东事务日益增长的不安伊朗以及该地区的其他政策转变。
此行正值美国和伊朗通过维也纳的中间人，讨论恢复德黑兰与前总统签署的2015年破烂的核协议唐纳德·特朗普三年前被遗弃。被排除在奥巴马时代核谈判之外的阿拉伯联合酋长国、沙特阿拉伯和其他海湾盟友一再要求在谈判桌上占有一席之地，坚称任何重返协议的举动都必须解决伊朗的弹道导弹计划和对地区代理人的支持。
克里斯·库恩斯参议员。拜登的一个重要盟友被派往海外外交使团，他在阿联酋首都阿布扎比对记者表示，他希望减轻酋长们对恢复这一里程碑式的协议的“可以理解和合法的关切”，并与海湾合作伙伴建立“更广泛的接触”。
库恩斯表示，与阿联酋就正在维也纳进行的谈判进行“密切磋商”是“重要的、预期的和正在发生的”，并补充说，他希望阿联酋“可能不仅得到通知，而且实际上有所帮助”。
这意味着什么仍不清楚，因为随着谈判在奥地利首都取得进展，海湾国家现在都在辞职。当被要求详细说明时，库恩斯拒绝了阿联酋的投入在过去五年与伊朗的谈判中获得了更大意义的说法。
他表示:“我绝不是想暗示，在工程中，阿联酋将获得任何东西。”。"维也纳是美国政府谈判的地方."
地区紧张局势正在加剧。为了迫使拜登政府解除制裁并重新遵守协议，伊朗稳步违反了协议对核浓缩和浓缩铀库存的限制。以色列和伊朗之间的长期阴影战争已经加剧，疑似以色列袭击了动荡的中东水道上的伊朗船只和伊朗的纳坦兹核设施。
在一次旨在促进“长期政治、经济、文化和安全关系”的访问中，拜登政府的几名高级官员正在阿拉伯国家首都进行访问，其中包括国家安全委员会的布雷特·麦古克和国务院的德里克·乔莱特，他们本周将在阿布扎比、利雅得、安曼和开罗进行访问。
康涅狄格州参议员克里斯·墨菲(Chris Murphy)本周加入了该地区的一系列外交活动，乘飞机前往阿曼、卡塔尔和约旦，就也门战争的政治解决方案进行会谈。墨菲在安曼接受美联社(Associated Press)采访时，赞扬了拜登政府对该地区最近化解紧张局势的措施的影响，例如沙特向伊朗支持的胡塞武装叛军提出的停火倡议，以及伊朗和沙特阿拉伯之间的秘密谈判。今年早些时候，拜登宣布美国结束对沙特领导的也门联盟的支持。
然而，墨菲警告说，“只要我们还在制裁伊朗经济...很难推动胡塞停火。”
他补充说，德黑兰与世界大国的核协议“非常重要，可能对也门的和平至关重要”，如果没有它，“伊朗人将把也门视为对美国和我们的盟友进行恶作剧的机会。”
此前，拜登政府决定推进特朗普时代对海湾国家的武器销售，包括向阿联酋转让230亿美元的F-35战斗机、收割者无人机和其他先进武器，尽管民主党人反对，他们担心各国卷入也门毁灭性战争、独裁政策和与中国的关系。
库恩斯是参议院外交关系委员会的一个小组委员会的主席，他去年帮助提出了一项立法，旨在阻止向阿联酋出售战斗机。他周一表示，在为期两天的访问中，他与阿联酋官员讨论了这些问题。
“在与高级(酋长国)领导人的多次积极对话中，我得到了保证，我认为是合适的，”库恩斯说，但没有详细说明。“但我需要回到华盛顿听取我们政府的意见...这是如何解决和解决的。”
这位参议员还因尖锐批评沙特阿拉伯的人权记录和在也门的策略而闻名，美国支持的沙特联军空袭已造成数千平民死亡。特朗普政府与强大的沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨尔曼(Mohammed bin Salman)建立了密切联系，批准了一项核合作协议，与沙特分享其核电企业的技术，包括建造几个民用反应堆的计划。
这一合作引发了一些美国参议员对沙特阿拉伯意图的怀疑。
尽管库恩斯拒绝透露他对沙特核技术计划的了解，但他表示，也门灾难性的战争“让我们担心，我们是否有能力相信沙特人从我们这里获得的技术。”
他补充道:“伊朗不是唯一担心的国家。”
US officials in Mideast to reassure jittery allies over Iran
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Top Biden administration officials and U.S. senators crisscrossed the Middle East on Monday, seeking to assuage growing unease among Gulf Arab partners over America’s re-engagement withIranand other policy shifts in the region.
The trips come as the U.S. and Iran, through intermediaries in Vienna, discuss a return to Tehran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that former PresidentDonald Trumpabandoned three years ago. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies, excluded from Obama-era nuclear negotiations, have repeatedly pressed for a seat at the table, insisting that any return to the accord must address Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional proxies.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a key Biden ally dispatched on overseas diplomatic missions, told reporters in the UAE's capital of Abu Dhabi that he hoped to allay the sheikhdom's “understandable and legitimate concerns” about the return to the landmark deal and to create “broader engagement” with Gulf partners.
Coons said “close consultation” with the UAE about the ongoing talks in Vienna was “important, expected and happening," adding that he hopes the Emiratis “may not just be notified, but actually help.”
What that means remains unclear, as Gulf states now watch with resignation as negotiations gain traction in the Austrian capital. When asked to elaborate, Coons balked at the suggestion that the UAE's input had acquired any greater significance in talks with Iran over the last five years.
“I did not in any way mean to suggest that there was some deal in the works where the Emiratis would be securing anything,” he said. “Vienna is the place where the United States government, the administration, is negotiating.”
Regional tensions are rising. To pressure the Biden administration to lift sanctions and come back into compliance with the deal, Iran has steadily violated the accord’s limitations on nuclear enrichment and stockpiles of enriched uranium. The long shadow war between Israel and Iran has intensified, with suspected Israeli attacks on Iranian ships in volatile Mideast waterways and at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.
In a tour intended to boost “long-standing political, economic, cultural, and security ties," several senior Biden administration officials are touring Arab capitals, with Brett McGurk from the National Security Council and Derek Chollet from the State Department, among others, stopping in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Amman and Cairo this week.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. joined the flurry of diplomatic activity in the region this week, jetting to Oman, Qatar and Jordan for talks on a political solution to the war in Yemen. In an interview with The Associated Press from Amman, Murphy credited the influence of the Biden administration on recent steps in the region to defuse tensions, such as a Saudi cease-fire initiative floated to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and secret talks between archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Biden announced the end of U.S. support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
However, Murphy warned, “so long as we’re still sanctioning the hell out of the Iranian economy ... it's going to be hard to push the Houthis to a cease-fire."
Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers “is very important, perhaps critical to peace in Yemen,” he added, and without it, “the Iranians are going to see Yemen as an opportunity to make mischief against the United States and our allies.”
The visits follow the Biden administration's decision to plow ahead with Trump-era arms sales to Gulf countries, including a $23 billion transfer of F-35 combat aircraft, Reaper drones and other advanced weapons to the UAE, despite objections from Democrats wary of states’ entanglement in the devastating war in Yemen, authoritarian policies and ties to China.
Coons, chairman of a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, helped introduce legislation last year designed to block the sale of fighters to the UAE. He said Monday that he discussed those concerns with Emirati officials during his two-day visit.
“In a number of robust conversations with senior (Emirati) leaders, I’ve been reassured I think appropriately,” Coons said, without elaborating. “But I need to return to Washington to hear from our administration ... exactly how this is being resolved and addressed.”
The senator also has become known for his sharp criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record and tactics in Yemen, where U.S.-backed Saudi coalition airstrikes have killed thousands of civilians. The Trump administration, which cultivated close ties to the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, approved a nuclear cooperation deal to share technology with the kingdom for its nuclear power venture, including plans to build several civilian reactors.
The cooperation has sparked concerns among some U.S. senators skeptical of Saudi Arabia's intentions.
Although Coons declined to share what he knew of the kingdom's nuclear technology plans, he said the disastrous war in Yemen has “left us with concerns about our ability to trust the Saudis with technology that they acquire from us."
He added: "Iran is not the only concerning player.”
