Iran holds UAE responsible for destabalising security in Gulf

Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said yesterday that the Islamic Republic would “continue to provide aid to all resistance movements against the Israeli occupation”, warning “the Gulf states against creating a foothold for Israel in the region.”

Speaking at a press conference, Brigadier General Hatami said: “What happened with the Emirates constitutes a betrayal of the Palestinian people, and the UAE bears the responsibility for destabilising security in the Gulf region, if this happens because of the presence of the Israeli occupation in it.”

He also discussed the accelerating regional and international developments and confirmed that “these developments put us in front of a changing environment, which requires us to deal with these changes properly.”

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Hatami stressed that “Iran is ready to meet Lebanon’s arms needs, but the choice remains for them,” stressing that “Iran’s methodology is effective deterrence, and we will confront any threat, and our strategy is active defense, as is the case in our confrontation with terrorists.”

 On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.

Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave of Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic of other ties with the occupation state.