DUBAI: United Arab Emirate’s minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said on Monday the UAE reaching an agreement to normalize ties with Israel was a “sovereign decision” that was not directed at Iran.
The UAE summoned the Chargé d’Affairs at the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi on Sunday over threats made in response to a peace deal with Israel.
The official was handed a "strongly worded memo" over threatening statements made by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani regarding the UAE’s agreement with Israel to normalize relations, the state WAM news agency reported.
The Emirates' foreign ministry said Rouhani’s statements were echoed by Iranian officials and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and that it considered this rhetoric “unacceptable and provocative.”
The ministry added that these statements will have serious repercussions on security and stability in the Arabian Gulf.
