Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, January 17, 2020 -

KHAMENEI.IR / AFP

By normalizing their relations with Israel, the United Arab Emirates "betrayed the Muslim world," Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ruled on Tuesday in a series of messages on his Twitter account.

After the diplomatic breakthrough between the Hebrew state and a new Arab state after Egypt and Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accuses Abu Dhabi of having betrayed "the Arab nations, the countries of the region and #Palestine".

A symbolic "first commercial flight" between the United Arab Emirates and Israel

“Obviously, this betrayal will not last long and the mark of infamy will remain with them,” adds the Iranian number one, also saying he hopes “that the Emiratis will wake up soon and offer compensation for what they have done”.

The publication of these remarks comes the day after the "first commercial flight" direct between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, the flight which gave rise to another first: a Saudi clearance given to the plane of the Israeli company to fly over the territory of Israel. Saudi Arabia while Riyadh does not maintain a relationship with the Hebrew state.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel announced on August 13 an agreement to normalize their relations - unofficial for years -, with the Emirates becoming the first Gulf country to establish relations with the Hebrew state, and the third in the Arab world, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

"Strategic stupidity of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv"

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel is the “Great Satan” just like the United States, and the displayed support for the Palestinian cause has been a constant in Iranian foreign policy since the 1979 revolution.

On August 14, Iranian Foreign Affairs had qualified the normalization between Israel and the Emirates "strategic stupidity of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv which will undoubtedly strengthen the axis of resistance".

Iran has maintained strained relations for several years with the Emirates, one of its neighbors on the southern shore of the Gulf that it accuses of aligning itself with Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic's great regional rival.

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