UAE rejects Iran’s interference in region countries' affairs, backs Saudi Arabia

If Iran wants to start a dialogue with the Gulf Arab states, it must stop interfering in its neighbours’ internal affairs, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash warned on Monday, in response to Iran’s call for a dialogue with Gulf States.

“[Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad] Zarif calls for a regional dialogue in the Arabian Gulf. For the dialogue to be serious and away from propaganda, Tehran must stop interfering in the internal affairs of its neighbours,” Gargash said on his Twitter account.

ظريف يدعو إلى حوار إقليمي في الخليج العربي، لكي يكون الحوار جديا وبعيدا عن البروباغاندا على طهران أن توقف تدخلها في الشؤون الداخلية لجيرانها

— د. أنور قرقاش (@AnwarGargash) February 20, 2017

In the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, an annual gathering of top diplomats and defence officials, Zarif called on Gulf countries to work together with Iran to reduce violence across the region, urging them to surmount “the current state of division and tension” and develop a “realistic regional security arrangement.”

He proposed forming a forum with the Gulf Arab states in order to build a common goal toward overcoming problems.

During the conference, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir called Tehran the main sponsor of global terrorism and a destabilising force in the Middle East.

The six Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), especially Saudi Arabia, accused Iran of using “sectarianism” to interfere in Arab countries’ affairs and build its own sphere of influence in the Middle East. The latter was denied by Iran later at the conference.

On the contrary, the Kuwaiti Emir Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad arrived today in Oman on an official visit which was reported to be connected to attempts to start a dialogue between Iran and the Gulf states.

International sanctions on Iran were lifted a year ago under a nuclear deal with world powers, but the Republican senators said at the conference that they would press for new US measures over the missiles issue and Tehran’s actions to “destabilise” the Middle East.