File image.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the United Arab Emirates of helping and facilitating military attacks against Iran, saying that Abu Dhabi “betrayed” Tehran during the American-Israeli war.
Speaking at the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in India’s New Delhi on May 15, Gharibabadi rejected what he called “baseless claims” by the UAE foreign minister that Iran had attacked the country and was the aggressor.
“The United Arab Emirates played a significant role in supporting and facilitating military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Gharibabadi said, according to the official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).
He noted that under a 1974 UN General Assembly resolution, countries that provide facilities and services to aggressors are not merely helping them but are committing aggression themselves.
“The UAE is an aggressor, not a helper of aggressors,” he added.
Gharibabadi said Iran had warned regional countries, including the UAE, before the attacks began that if they helped the United States and Israel or made their territory and facilities available, Tehran would exercise what he called its right to self-defense.
“We had no choice but to attack all the facilities of US bases in the UAE, or any facilities and installations in the UAE in which the United States has a share or participation,” he said.
“This was a war, and in that war we defended our country,” he added.
He also stressed Iran had no war with its neighbors and had told regional states that its war was with Israel and the U.S., “not with neighbors and not with the United Arab Emirates.”
Gharibabadi went on to say that the UAE was trying to portray itself as a victim, while “the real victim is the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He added that the UAE had “not only betrayed the Islamic Republic of Iran as a neighboring country, but is also betraying the Palestinian cause,” accusing Abu Dhabi of inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the war and acting as “the representative and protector of Israel’s interests” at BRICS and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Despite Netanyahu himself announcing the wartime visit to the UAE through his office, Abu Dhabi has officially denied that he came over.
Several recent reports, however, revealed that Netanyahu was not the only senior Israeli official to visit the UAE during the war. Chief of the Israeli Mossad spy agency David Barnea made not one, but two visits. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also went to Abu Dhabi.
In addition to these visits, it has been confirmed that Israel deployed air defenses along with troops to operate them to the UAE amid the war.
Even more seriously, a recent report by Bloomberg revealed that the UAE made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade fellow Gulf states to join a coordinated attack on Iran shortly after the start of the American-Israeli war on Islamic Republic.
The UAE ended up attacking a major Iranian petrochemical site on Lavan Island shortly after the ceasefire between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic entered into effect. The attack was reportedly coordinated with Israel.
Despite Gharibabadi’s recent remarks and previous Iranian warnings, the UAE doubled down on its stance in the face of the Islamic Republic.
Speaking at the same BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, UAE Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Almarar said that the UAE retains the right to defend itself against Iran after accusing Tehran of carrying out more than 3,000 missile and drone attacks since the start of the war.
The minister said that Emirati air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones targeting civilian infrastructure including airports, ports, oil facilities and residential areas.
He also accused Iran of disrupting international shipping routes and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of “economic blackmail.”
The Israeli surprise announcement of Netanyahu’s visit to the UAE, and all recent reports on military cooperation between the two countries were likely a part of planned effort to increase tensions between Abu Dhabi and Tehran. Adding to this the fact that the last war drove the UAE further away from other Gulf states, it became clear that Israel is the biggest winner from this situation.
Considering the latest developments, it is almost certain that the UAE will join the U.S. and Israel if the war on Iran resumes. From its side, Tehran seems completely fed up with Abu Dhabi.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
