US President Joe Biden holds a virtual meeting with business leaders and state governors to discuss supply chain problems, particularly addressing semiconductor chips, on the White House campus in Washington, DC, March 9, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Israel and the United Arab Emirates are pressing the United States to provide security guarantees as part of any new nuclear agreement with Iran, amid concerns that an accord will increase Tehran’s belligerence, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Due to a disruption in global fuel supplies because of the Ukrainian conflict and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia, the UAE believes it has significant leverage to pressure Washington to formulate a new Middle East security strategy that will account for its concerns.

Such a strategy would need to include missile defense capabilities and intelligence sharing, several anonymous sources told Bloomberg.

Israel is also pushing the US on the matter, in coordination with the UAE. The countries, which established formal relations in 2020, are both concerned that Iran could see its profits from oil sales rise, allowing it to boost support to regional proxies and clients like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

State Department and White House officials were cited as saying that discussions are ongoing and the US remains committed to its allies in the Middle East.

Israel’s foreign and defense ministries did not comment, nor did the UAE’s foreign ministry.

Several Gulf states are dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s stance on Iran and regional security, Bloomberg reported, in particular the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are engaged in a proxy war with Iran in Yemen. Both countries have faced attacks attributed to Houthi forces.

At the same time, the administration strongly wants Gulf nations to boost oil production in order to bring down soaring energy prices. Last week, the UAE said it would push its partners in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to do so, after a visit from the National Security Council’s senior Middle East director.