UAE to host European-led mission to monitor Gulf waters

A European-led maritime mission to monitor Gulf waters will be stationed at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi, the French defence minister said Sunday, amid regional tensions with Iran.

U.S. blames oil tanker attacks on Tehran

France plans to build a European-led maritime force to keep a watch on Gulf waters aimed at making maritime navigation in the Gulf waters as safe as possible. A French Naval base in Abu Dhabi will serve as the headquarters for the European-led mission and is expected to be operational soon according to reports. "We formally agreed that the command centre of the European maritime surveillance initiative will be on UAE territory,"  French Defence Minister Florence Parly said. She also said that the base will host around a dozen officials representing the countries involved,  a visit to the base. However, she did not identify the participants of the base, saying that some were still waiting for their respective parliaments to ratify their participation in the initiative.

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Strong ties between France and Abu Dhabi

This comes in the backdrop of the United States blaming Tehran for attacking it's oil tankers in the region. Iran however, has denied the charges. Earlier, Washington launched a maritime coalition based in Bahrain to provide protection to shipping in the Gulf waters and the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The French Defence Minister earlier took a dig at the United Staes for failing to respond to provocations blamed on Iran. She also assured help to Saudi Arabia and said that France will send a radar to Saudi Arabia to help bolster the kingdom's defence system after Riyadh requested help following a September assault on the kingdom's oil facilities. 

Abu Dhabi and France share strong ties and have signed a number of agreements. In 2009, France opened its first military base in the UAE and stationed 700 personnel permanently. 

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(with inputs from agencies)