Iran on Saturday gave a clear warning to launch attack against UAE over its peace pact with Israel. Calling the act an explicit “betrayal”, President Hassan Rouhani said the UAE has made a “huge mistake”.
“The UAE’s great betrayal of the Palestinian people … will turn this small, rich country, which is heavily dependent on security, into a legitimate and easy target,” the Iranian hard-line daily Kayhan wrote in a front page editorial whose editor in chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Iranian Guard called the decision “shameful” and an “evil action” planned by the US, according to Sepah News. The Guard further warned UAE, saying the agreement with Israel is an invitation to the American culture in the middle east and will result into a “dangerous future” for the Emirati government.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, termed the agreement a “painful betrayal” of Arab and other countries in the region, during his trip to Lebanon on Friday.
“Iranian missiles could hit the UAE in eight minutes,” said Dr Theodore Karasik Karasik, a senior adviser to Gulf State Analytics in Washington DC.
“They can target critical infrastructure, or they can simply target the desert in an act of psychological warfare. Recent Iranian naval exercises featured missiles that came from an underground launcher. This was new and set off an alarm. Nevertheless, Dubai and other urban centers are still considered safe zones,” Karasik added.
Around 100 people gathered in front of Emirates Embassy in the capital Tehran to protest against the deal. Protesters chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America” and also burned Israeli flag.
UAE on Thursday signed an agreement establishing normalisation of relationship with Israel, the US President Trump announced.
After a three-way telephonic call among US, UAE and Israel, a joint statement was released by the three countries that read: “President Donald J Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates spoke today (Thursday) and agreed to the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE.”