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Iran threatens dangerous consequences for UAE over Israel deal

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard called the deal a “shameful” agreement and an “evil action" that was underwritten by the US.

AP

A group of protesters burn representations of Israeli flag during a gathering outside the United Arab Emirates' embassy in Tehran, Aug. 15, 2020.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has vowed there would be dangerous consequences for the United Arab Emirates after it announced a historic deal with Israel to open up diplomatic relations.

The UAE is the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to establish normalised relations with Israel, Iran's regional archenemy. As part of the US-brokered deal, Israel agreed to temporarily put off the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state.

The Iranian Guard warned on Saturday that the deal with Israel will set back American influence in the Middle East and bring a “dangerous future" for the Emirati government.

'Huge mistake'

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has also condemned the Emirati move. In a televised speech on Saturday, he warned that the United Arab Emirates has made a “huge mistake” in reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel.

Rouhani warned the Gulf state against allowing Israel to have a “foothold in the region.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called the agreement a painful betrayal of Arab and other countries in the region, during a trip to Lebanon on Friday.

Less than 100 people gathered in front of the Emirates embassy in the capital Tehran on Saturday evening to protest the deal. They chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America” and burned an Israeli flag.

US-brokered deal

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates and Israel agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of the deal to halt the annexation.

The UAE presented its controversial decision as a way of encouraging peace efforts and taking Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank off the table. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly pushed back insisting the pause in annexation was “temporary.”

Trump has presented the US-brokered agreement as a major diplomatic achievement and said he expects more Arab and Muslim countries to follow suit. Israel has quietly cultivated ties with the UAE and other Gulf countries for several years as they have confronted a shared enemy in Iran.

SOURCE: AP