Obama to host Abu Dhabi crown prince

WASHINGTON—US President Barack Obama will host Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan on April 26 to discuss “common strategic interests” in the Middle East, the White House said Friday.

The meeting was announced one week after the crown prince met with the head of the US Central Command, General James Mattis, at a time of heightened tension between Arab states and Iran.

“President Obama will welcome Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates to the White House on Tuesday, April 26th,” it said in a statement.

“The president looks forward to discussing with the crown prince the strong ties between the United States and the UAE and our common strategic interests in the region,” the White House said.

Tense ties between Gulf Arab states and Iran were exacerbated after the mid-March intervention of Gulf security forces, including a contingent from the UAE, in Sunni-ruled Bahrain where security forces crushed a Shiite-led pro-democracy uprising.

The intervention sparked a war of words between various Gulf Arab states and their Iranian neighbor, with both sides trading accusations of meddling in Bahrain, and Arab states alleging Iranian interference in Kuwait.

The United States and various other Western countries accuse Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons and backing militants in Iraq.