The port project has been the focus of a flurry of diplomatic engagements in recent months by senior US officials and prominent lawmakers on Capitol Hill and has potentially jeopardized the sale of advanced American jet fighters and other advanced munitions to the UAE.
“Last we checked, we had successfully convinced the Emiratis to shut down the project,” said one source familiar with the intelligence. “But it’s still a live issue.”
US officials for at least a year have been closely watching the construction of what they believed was a military facility inside the commercial Khalifa port, about 50 miles from the UAE capital. The United States considers the UAE a key partner in counterterrorism efforts in the region and has thousands of troops based at an Emirati air base 20 miles outside of Abu…
