US Congressman Ro Khanna said that his campaign to end military support for the war in Yemen had angered the UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba, to the point that the latter shouted at him during one of their meetings.
Khanna disclosed the incident during an interview with the podcast program of the Intercept website, where he said, "I have never had an ambassador from another country come to my office and shouted at Ali, literally, but this is what happened to me from the ambassador of the Emirates."
He continued, "I was dismayed. He made me see that there was real arrogance, a sense of entitlement, and a feeling that he saw himself so strong that he could act that way. In fact, I hadn't seen that before."
Khanna - a Democrat who joined the House of Representatives in January 2017 - indicated that he does not remember exactly when it happened, but added that the subsequent meetings between him and Otaiba were more calm.
"We met again once or twice and he softened his tone ... but I saw that this is an indication of how entrenched those interests are," he said.
Khanna, along with other MPs, strived to end US support for the Saudi-Emirati coalition during Trump's term (Anatolia)
Khanna is the main sponsor of a legislative decision related to war powers, through which he sought to end the American role in supporting the Saudi-Emirati coalition in its war in Yemen.
On the other hand, Richard Mintz of The Harbor Group - which represents the UAE in Washington - said that the ambassador denies raising his voice on Representative Khanna.
However, the Intercept indicated that Al-Otaiba has become in a delicate situation with the return of the Democrats to power in the United States and with them foreign policy men, whose enmity Abu Dhabi won by its position against the nuclear agreement concluded by world powers, with the participation of the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama, with Iran.