Top UAE Official: Israel Agreement Not Directed at Iran

Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, says the agreement reached last week with Israel for the normalization of ties was a “sovereign decision” and was not directed at Iran. “We say this and repeat it. We do not accept interference in our decisions,” Gargash wrote Monday on Twitter. The day before, the UAE protested comments made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani – who called the emiratis’ move a “treacherous act” and said the country now faced a “dangerous future” – by summoning the Iranian charge d’affaires for a dressing down. The secretary-general of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, of which the UAE is a member, also castigated Iran for its “threats.” Many see the agreement reached with Israel to have stemmed in large part from a shared view of Iran as the primary threat to the region due to its support for extremist groups and what are perceived to be its nuclear ambitions.