Iran threatens to attack the Emirates for its recognition of Israel
The agreement to normalize diplomatic relations between the Emirates and Israel has received support from Western leaders, but it has also raised the worst threats from those nations that advocate political Islam as a form of government. Iran has gone from scepticism about the agreement to intimidation, and on Saturday Iranian President Hassan Rohaní said the Gulf country had committed "a betrayal and a mistake," according to the online edition of the Arab News on Sunday.
These threats were also on the front page of the daily Kayhan, whose chief editor is appointed by Iran's supreme leader. "The great betrayal by the Emirates of the Palestinian people will make this small and rich country, which depends largely on security, a legitimate and easy target," read the editorial that crowned the front page.
Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri said on Sunday that Iran's approach to the Emirates will change following the agreement between the Emirates and Israel to normalise diplomatic relations. "Tehran's approach to the United Arab Emirates will change. If something happens in the Gulf region and if our national security is affected, no matter how little, we will hold the Emirates accountable and act accordingly," Baqeri said.
Iran has already attacked Saudi civilians with missiles launched by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Yemen. Security analyst Theodore Karasik has explained that these new threats are very serious, according to Arab News. "Iranian missiles could reach the Emirates in eight minutes," said Karasik, a senior adviser to the Washington-based consulting firm Gulf State Analytics. "They can target critical infrastructure, or they can simply target the desert to trigger panic. Recent Iranian naval exercises include missiles that came from an underground launcher. This is new and has put the Emirates in a state of alarm. However, Dubai and other urban centers are still considered safe areas," Karasik said in a statement reported by Arab News.
Last week's agreement, negotiated by U.S. President Donald Trump, has established diplomatic relations between Israel and the Emirates for the first time, in exchange for Israel freezing further annexations of the West Bank. Despite Iran's rejection of the agreement, the Emirates is determined to press ahead with the normalisation of relations with Israel with the aim of achieving a stable and lasting peace in the Middle East. Ali Abdullah Al-Ahmed, the Emirates' ambassador to France, explained that new agreements have yet to be signed. "The relationship with Israel will not be limited to diplomacy. It will also cover economic relations, technology or academic exchanges," said al-Ahmed in a statement published in the French version of Arab News.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Emirates has summoned this Sunday the Iranian chargé d'affaires to deliver a formal complaint for the comments and even threats by Iran after the agreement reached by Abu Dhabi with Israel to establish full relations. According to the WAM news agency of the Emirates, Foreign Affairs delivered a "very strong note of protest" in which it pointed out that the statements of the Iranian president, Hasan Rohani, are "unacceptable and inciting" and "entail serious repercussions for the security and stability of the Persian Gulf".
On Saturday, the president described the UAE's agreement with Israel as "a wrong act and a betrayal of Muslims", according to statements issued by the local news agency ISNA. The Emirate government has conveyed to the Iranian chargé d'affaires "its absolute rejection of the inflammatory language by the Iranian authorities after the peace agreement between the Emirates and Israel". Furthermore, it has considered it "an interference in the internal affairs and an attack on the sovereignty" of the Emirates, according to WAM, which also referred to the Guardians of the Revolution.
The elite military body warned Saturday that the rapprochement between the UAE and Israel "prepares a dangerous future for the United States and the supporters of the agreement". "Sooner or later, the rulers of the Emirates will have to wait for the decisive and instructive response of the people of this country to the historical humiliation caused by the stupidity of their leaders, by unveiling the normalization agreement with a usurper Israel," the revolutionary guard explained on its website.