UAE, Bahrain to face internal challenges after building ties with Israel, Iran official warns

A special aide to the speaker of the Iranian parliament on international affairs warned that Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates would face “major” internal problems as a result of their normalisation of relations with Israel.

“In the near future, rulers of the UAE and Bahrain, who announced the normalisation of ties [with Israel], will face problems and major challenges within their countries,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the Russian news agency Sputnik.

He added that Manama and Abu Dhabi entered normalisation agreements with Israel under “tremendous” pressure from Washington and not in circumstances when the two countries’ rulers had a say on the matter.

READ: Israel in talks with Gulf states to form defence alliance, report claims

The Iranian official dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims about forming a four-nation defence alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.

Netanyahu’s claims on the creation of such alliances are nothing but a lie,” Amir-Abdollahian told Sputnik.

The UAE normalise ties with Israel – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]