U.S. President Barack Obama approved a nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday, saying that the agreement will beef up bilateral security cooperation, Xinhua reported.
"I have determined that the performance of the agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security," Obama said in a statement.
The United States signed a nuclear cooperation deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January, pledging to help it develop nuclear power. The key to the deal is the UAE's willingness to import, rather than produce, fuel that would be used in its proposed nuclear reactors.
The deal is "a powerful and timely model for the region," former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the signing ceremony with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan.
The UAE is one of U.S. allies in the Gulf region. However, it is also among Iran's closest trading partners. U.S. officials said in the past that the UAE has served as a major conduit for military technologies entering Iran.
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