In 1st response from Iran, official says UAE will be ‘engulfed in Zionism fire’

A special adviser to the speaker of Iran’s parliament issued the first response from an Iranian official to the normalization deal announced between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

“UAE’s new approach for normalizing ties w/fake, criminal #Israel doesn’t maintain peace & security, but serves ongoing Zionists’ crimes,” wrote Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, an adviser on international affairs and a former deputy foreign minister.

“Abu Dhabi’s behavior has no justification, turning back on the Palestine cause. W/ that strategic mistake, #UAE will be engulfed in Zionism fire,” he added.

The text was accompanied by a graphic showing a Star of David being “deleted” on a computer.

UAE’s new approach for normalizing ties w/fake, criminal #Israel doesn’t maintain peace & security, but serves ongoing Zionists’ crimes. Abu Dhabi behavior has no justification, turning back on the Palestine cause. W/ that strategic mistake, #UAE will be engulfed in Zionism fire. pic.twitter.com/NDNy94laa8

— H.amirabdollahian (@Amirabdolahian) August 13, 2020
Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced the agreement Thursday afternoon. They “agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” they said in a joint statement.

The deal marks the third such agreement the Jewish state has struck with an Arab country after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994).

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of reciprocal embassies, their statement said.

“As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough, and at the request of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world,” the statement added.

UAE officials commenting on the agreement to “establish a roadmap towards launching common cooperation,” as UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash put it, emphasized that it would halt Israeli annexation and revive the peace process.

The Palestinian Authority reacted with fury to the announcement, calling for the United Arab Emirates to “immediately retract” its agreement, which it called a “despicable decision.”

PA President Mahmoud Abbas called an emergency meeting in response to the agreement, while the PA recalled its ambassador to the UAE in protest over the deal.

“The Palestinian leadership rejects the actions of the Emirati government, considering it to be a betrayal of the Palestinian people and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa,” PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement read aloud on Palestine TV.

Senior Fatah and Palestinian Liberation Organization officials also lashed the accord, as did the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.

Abbas and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh spoke over the phone Thursday night to discuss the UAE-Israel agreement.

Israel’s Arab allies — those with whom the Jewish state has signed treaties and some of those who have preferred to stay in the shadows so far — mostly hailed the agreement, including Egypt, Bahrain, and a Saudi official.

Jordan issued a more tepid statement, calling for Israel to stop “all illegal measures which undermine peace opportunities,” and enter into negotiations with the Palestinians.