Arab must cooperate with Israel due to Iran’s aggressive policies - UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash

Dubai: Iran’s response to Israel-UAE cooperation is alarming. UAE would not have been compelled to cooperate with Israel. But Iran’s policies regarding Arab nations over the past three decades prompted the Middle Eastern countries to reconsider their ties with Iran, lashed out UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash. Moreover, Minister Gargash urged Israel to look at these ties very transactionally and not tactically. Earlier too, Gargash had mentioned that the Israel-UAE relations have developed to counter the Iranian threat.

Besides, Iran President Hassan Rouhani had criticised the UAE-Israel ties in his speech at the UNGA. He lashed out, saying that Bahrain and UAE have backstabbed Iran by developing relations with Israel. He further warned that UAE and Bahrain would have to face grave consequences of this new cooperation. UAE Foreign Minister then replied to Iran’s threat. He rebuked Iran by stating that the action by Iran and its allied groups have posed a threat to the Middle East’s security. He further targeted Iran’s patrol ship in the Persian Gulf and also the dangerous actions taken by Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

At the same time, if Israel looks at this new cooperation with Bahrain and UAE from a tactical perspective, it could open new corridors. However, suppose Israel looks at it very `transactionally’. In that case, I think that it is not going to send a very good omen for normalising relations with many of the Arab countries, said Minister Gargash. But, Gargash also asserted that the new ties with Israel could expand UAE on a global level. This new UAE-Israel deal has been warmly welcomed from all over the world. Moreover, alongside, United States, Europe, Russia, India and China, Asian and African nations have also welcomed this deal, said Minister Gargash. But this new deal has caused polarisation in the Middle East, criticised Gargash.

However, Gargash said that the Palestinian issue has not been left behind despite developing new ties with Israel. Moreover, this new deal makes it easy to discuss this subject closely. Whereas, he slandered that Turkey’s reaction to this new deal is all just pretence. He also highlighted the fact that Turkey, who has been voicing about Palestinian rights, has been in a trade-cooperation with Israel for many years. Furthermore, Gargash lambasted against Turkey by stating that Turkey and Israel share an annual trade of $3 bn, and Turkey has an Israeli embassy in the state.