The United Arab Emirates’ agreement to normalize ties with Israel is a “sovereign decision” that was not aimed at Iran, said UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash.
Israel and the UAE announced that they are establishing full diplomatic relations in a deal with US mediators that will see Israel delay plans for annexation of land it has already illegally occupied that is being sought by the Palestinians for their future state.
“The UAE-Israel peace treaty is a sovereign decision not directed at Iran. We say this and repeat it. We do not accept any interference in our decisions,” Gargash said on Twitter on Monday.
On Sunday, the UAE called on Iran’s prosecutors in Abu Dhabi and gave him a “highly valued memo” in response to a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the Foreign Ministry described as “unacceptable”.
Speaking on Saturday, Rouhani said the UAE had made a “huge mistake” in reaching an agreement to normalize ties with Israel, calling it a betrayal by the Gulf state.
The US-sponsored deal is seen as stepping up opposition to regional power in Iran, which the Gulf states, Israel and Washington see as the main threat in the conflict-ridden Middle East.
On Sunday, the secretary general of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council condemned “threats” by Rouhani and other Iranian officials against the UAE over the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that the annexation plans are only on “temporary hold” at the request of the US.
On Sunday, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Army Radio that Bahrain and Oman could be the next Gulf countries to follow the UAE in formalizing ties with Israel.
Israel signed peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. But the UAE, along with most other Arab nations, has no formal diplomatic or economic relations with it.
Oman maintains friendly ties with the US and Iran and has previously been a gateway for the two host countries.
A close ally of Saudi Arabia – who has not yet commented on the UAE – Israel agreement – has Bahrain host a senior Israeli official at a security conference in 2019, as well as a conference in the US leading to impetus of the Palestinian economy as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.
Government sources in Kuwait said their position on Israel would not change, and it would be the last country to normalize relations, local newspaper al-Qabas reported.
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