UAE, UK discuss enhancing international cooperation to protect maritime routes

The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom on Friday discussed enhancing international cooperation to protect maritime routes and promote freedom of global trade.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with UK National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell in London, according to the official Emirati news agency WAM.

Both sides discussed ways to enhance international cooperation to protect maritime routes and promote freedom of global trade.

The meeting addressed the overall regional developments and "the repercussions" of the Iranian attacks that targeted "civilian sites and facilities in the UAE, using missiles and drones," it added.

Powell, for his part, expressed his country's solidarity with Abu Dhabi.

Regional tensions have remained high since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran against Israel and US allies in Gulf countries, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while maintaining a blockade on vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway.