The meeting comes just days after public reports indicate that the UAE was used as a key transit point for military goods to Iran, including items that were used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq believed to have resulted in the death of Americans serving there.

It also stems from the introduction days ago by Ros-Lehtinen of legislation blocking any agreement with the UAE unless stringent conditions are met. At issue is the UAE’s record of allowing its territory to be used to send shipments to Iran of equipment, materials and technology useful for Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

The Ros-Lehtinen legislation (H.R. 364) links the agreement with actions by the UAE to stop the shipment of nuclear-related equipment, material and technology and conventional military hardware from the UAE to Iran in violation of U.S. laws and U.N. sanctions relating to Iran.

“Serious concerns remain regarding the UAE’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the effectiveness of their export control system,” said Ros-Lehtinen, who will raise concerns during the meeting. "We should not enter into nuclear cooperation with any country before we are certain that it will not undermine U.S. security interests,” she cautioned. 

The legislation also links the agreement with the UAE's full and complete support for U.S. efforts to impose new and more effective international sanctions on Iran to halt its nuclear program.

"The United States should not even consider a nuclear cooperation agreement with the UAE so long as that country continues to complicate international efforts to halt's Iran's deadly nuclear ambitions,” Ros-Lehtinen said. 

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