UAE says agreement with Israel is ‘not directed at Iran’

The United Arab Emirates’ agreement to normalise ties with Israel is a “sovereign decision” that was not directed at Iran, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said.

Israel and the UAE announced they were establishing full diplomatic relations in a US-brokered deal that will see Israel delay plans for annexation of land it already illegally occupies that is sought by the Palestinians for their future state.

“The UAE-Israeli peace treaty is a sovereign decision not directed at Iran. We say this and repeat it. We do not accept interference in our decisions,” Gargash said on Twitter on Monday.

On Sunday, the UAE summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Abu Dhabi and gave him a “strongly worded memo” in response to a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the foreign ministry described as “unacceptable”.