ABU DHABI, Dec 15: The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it was working to secure US lawmakers’ endorsement of a planned nuclear energy cooperation agreement with the US, the Gulf state’s top western ally.

The Bush administration is holding back on signing the deal because some US lawmakers have voiced concern that the UAE is not doing enough to curb nuclear plans in nearby Iran.

“Representatives of the US administration and the UAE government are working closely with members of Congress to inform them about the agreement and seek their views,” the official WAM news agency quoted the country’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, as saying.“The proposed ... agreement sets a new standard in ensuring the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation within the UAE programme.”

Iran, just across the Gulf from the UAE, is at loggerheads with the United Sates, over its nuclear programme. Tehran’s refusal to stop uranium enrichment has drawn three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006.

The West fears Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful power generation.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE in April pledging to cooperate on a peaceful nuclear energy programme, with the UAE promising to be a “responsible partner”. Once enacted, the pact would allow for the transfer of nuclear-related components and materials.

But Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lethinen, the ranking Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced legislation this week blocking the deal unless stringent conditions were met.

She said the UAE needed to do more to cooperate with international efforts to curb Tehran’s ambitions.—Reuters