UAE-Iran crossfire after agreement with Israel: "We do not accept interference or threats"
The peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which was made public last Thursday, appears to have been a point of agreement between much of the international community, but not between Arab nations, such as Iran.
According to statements issued by the Iranian news agency ISNA, in a speech given by Iranian President Hassan Rohani, the latter regretted that "a neighbouring country -by the UAE- has approached and contacted the enemy of the Islamic world and the region and the murderer of the Palestinians".
These words did not sit well in Abu Dhabi, and UAE Foreign Minister Anwar bin Muhammad Gargash said that the treaty between his country and Israel is "a sovereign decision", which is not addressed to Tehran.
The UAE Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian chief of business on Sunday to hand him a formal complaint for the statements of its president where he qualified Rohani's words as "unacceptable and inciting" and assured that "they carry serious repercussions for the security and stability of the Gulf", according to the WAM news agency. Gargash posted a message on his Twitter account saying that his country does not accept "interference in our decisions, just as we reject threats".
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite military body, also warned on Saturday on its website that the UAE-Israel alliance "is preparing a dangerous future for the United States and the supporters of the agreement". "Sooner or later, the UAE rulers 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.
This exchange of accusations and threats shows that, while the peace treaty between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv has marked a new stage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in the relationship between Israel and the Arab countries, it has not pleased those who defend more extreme positions against Israel.
For the Palestinian Authority, the agreement published last Thursday by Donald Trump in the Oval Office was described as "treason", and both Iran and Turkey called it a "stab in the back".
Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have officially recognized the Hebrew state. Cairo also welcomed the agreement between the UAE and Israel, as well as the Sultanate of Oman and Bahrain, a small Gulf state near Abu Dhabi and particularly hostile to Iran. The United Nations also welcomed this restoration of diplomatic relations between the two nations, which includes the temporary suspension of Israeli plans to annex the West Bank.
On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, announced the agreement to stop Israel's annexation of the Palestinian territories in a phone call with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.