Iran warns of 'very dangerous consequences' of Netanyahu's UAE visit

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a statement condemning Benjamin Netanyahu’s unannounced Sunday visit to the United Arab Emirates, warning of “the very dangerous consequences of the presence of the occupying regime in the region”, the Mehr News Agency reported.

In the ministry’s own language, the statement described Netanyahu as “the child-killing and warmongering prime minister of the Zionist regime” and said his presence was “highly dangerous and alarming”, accusing Israel of “military aggression against Iran and its escalation of occupation and genocide in Islamic lands, especially Palestine and Lebanon”. It called him “a criminal whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and who is wanted by international courts”.

The ministry said “regional security is a collective and indivisible matter” and called on regional governments to be “vigilant about the consequences and repercussions of such a presence” and “not allow the territory of regional countries to become a platform for destabilising actions against other countries in the region”.

Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Times of Israel reported. Separately, a senior Saudi official denied a Saudi-Israeli meeting during the visit, after the Ynet news site issued a correction to its initial claim; the report was also denied by Jordan.

Sources

• Mehr News Agency: “Iran condemns Netanyahu’s visit to UAE” — https://en.mehrnews.com/news/248197/Iran-condemns-Netanyahu-s-visit-to-UAE
• The Times of Israel: “UAE slams Ben Gvir’s Temple Mount visit, days after hosting Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi” — https://www.timesofisrael.com/uae-slams-ben-gvirs-temple-mount-visit-days-after-hosting-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi/