Bahrain, UAE Normalization Of Ties With Israel Is 'Stab In The Back' For Palestine - Zarif

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates backstabbed Palestine by reaching the normalization deals with Israel, but the ceremony in the White House was not a big issue anyway, since Israel and the Arab nations have maintained contacts during up to 20 years, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with Sputnik on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates backstabbed Palestine by reaching the normalization deals with Israel, but the ceremony in the White House was not a big issue anyway, since Israel and the Arab nations have maintained contacts during up to 20 years, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with Sputnik on Thursday.

"What happened in the White House was not a major development, but rather an opportunity to photograph and uncover the relations that have existed for 15 or 20 years between the Arab countries along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and the Zionist regime. These relations indicate that the slogans voiced by these countries in support of the Palestinian people are untrue, but are in actual fact a stab in the back for the Palestinian cause," Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister expressed the belief that Israel's relations with Bahrain and the UAE would "surely hurt peace in the region and the Middle East", as they encouraged Israel to "oppress the aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people.

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"For this reason we have disputed these relations considering that they are at the expense of the region and its peoples," Zarif added.

At the same time, the foreign minister noted that Iran was ready to improve relations with the neighbors.

"Iran's relations with neighboring countries are based on mutual respect, and the policy of the Islamic Republic is built on neighboring policy, and so long as these countries wish to build good relations with Iran, these relations will remain ongoing. However, unfortunately there are some states in the southern section of the Persian Gulf, such as the UAE, KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia], and Bahrain, who do not wish to establish durable relations with Iran. However, should they at any time be ready to build good relations with Iran, we will in our turn wish for that as well. Their relations with Israel are certainly not a strong point in our relations, but they will not impede our relations with them either," Zarif explained.