08 Sep 2020; MEMO: Senior officials in Tehran have warned the United Arab Emirates about allowing Israel to use its territory to target Iran. Even the possibility of this is a threat to Iran’s national security, it was pointed out.
The warning came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv are forming an alliance against Iran, which could possibly lead to an Israeli military presence in the Emirates.
According to Al Jazeera, an Iranian official has said that the UAE normalisation agreement with Israel undermines security in the Gulf. “Abu Dhabi bears responsibility for this,” he insisted. The UAE should pull back from its alliance with the “Zionist entity” to avoid further conflicts, the official added. He called upon Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed not to base his country’s policies and decisions on “illusions”.
Shortly after the agreement was announced, President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech on Iranian television that the UAE has committed “a big mistake” by normalising relations with Israel. Rouhani described the agreement as “a betrayal of the Muslims, the Palestinian people and Jerusalem,” and warned the UAE not to “open the region’s gates to the Zionist entity.” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, described the deal as “treason”.
In an editorial in Kayhan newspaper, it said that, “The UAE’s great betrayal of the Palestinian people will turn this small, rich country, which is heavily dependent on security, into a legitimate and easy target for resistance.”
