Iran Condemns UAE-Israel Agreement, Khamenei-Style

The United Arab Emirates and Israel have reached a deal to normalize relations, prompting anger in Tehran and leading Iranian officials to describe the diplomatic moment as “strategically stupid,” "a dagger in the back of the Palestinian people and all Muslims” and “shameful.”

Although agreements are in place between Israel and Egypt and Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the first Gulf state to establish political relations with the country. As part of the deal, which was signed on August 13, the two countries announced they would shortly open embassies in each other's countries, and that flights between the two countries would also begin.

The agreement, which was brokered by President Trump, is an official recognition of the state of Israel by the UAE. In signing the deal, Israel has promised to suspend plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

A few days prior to the deal’s completion, the UAE foreign minister spoke with his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif via video. The two countries have in the past had strained relations, with chargé d’affaires diplomats usually handling matters, so the contact between the two ministers was regarded as significant, as the UAE most likely used the meeting to inform Iran of what was being tabled with Israel. 

And yet, Iran took until the day after the agreement was signed to give its official response to the new relationship between the two Middle Eastern countries, prompting speculation that it, along with Palestine, was not aware of the plans for rapprochement and the inevitable shift in politics in the region.

“Dagger in the Back”

Iran’s condemnation of the deal has led the Supreme National Security Council to consider how it should respond, given Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s stance over the last 30 years. Iran has typically had fragile relations with the Gulf States, including the UAE.

Although the council's resolutions must be approved by Ayatollah Khamenei, some analysts have said that the council’s response and its position will likely be more moderate than declarations coming from the office of the Supreme Leader have been in the past. 

The Iranian foreign ministry issued a statement following the announcement of the deal, condemning it as “strategically stupid,” describing Israel as "fake, illegitimate, and criminal,” and calling the UAE decision "a shameful act" and "a dagger in the back of the Palestinian people and all Muslims."

However, although the tone of the Iranian statement is hostile, it is mainly rhetoric and not a signal that Iran is prepared to make any large-scale changes to the way it manages its relations in the Gulf. It is unlikely to recall any of its diplomats from Abu Dhabi or anywhere else. Despite tensions between the two countries continuing, the Islamic Republic has for the most part tried to downplay them and keep relations temperate. 

There are good reasons for this. The wide-ranging US sanctions against the Islamic Republic have made Iran needy for trade and economic cooperation, much needier than the UAE. The country is home to a number of Iranian banks and companies that, in the wake of sanctions, have been something of a lifeline for Iran’s economy, helping it stay afloat at least to a basic level. 

At the same time, the Islamic Republic seeks to portray itself as a standard-bearer for the protection of Palestinian rights, so it regards its behavior and reaction as being under the microscope for both leaders and citizens of Islamic countries. It believes it should be seen to be taking a firm stand. Regardless of what steps are actually taken, in diplomatic terms, Iran has attacked the UAE and, even more so, Israel.

Opportunity to Insult Israel

It’s no surprise, that, in line with the Islamic Republic's stance under Ayatollah Khamenei, Iranian officials took the opportunity to launch vicious verbal attacks on Israel, and to reiterate that peace was not possible in the Middle East without the rights of Palestinians being honored. Signing agreements with Israel is the antithesis, they say. In the coming days it is expected that the Supreme Leader will likely call for the "unity" of Arabs and Muslims to defend and support the Palestinian people.

At the time of the US-mediated peace deal between Egypt and Israel in 1979, Iran pursued an "independent national policy" and, while recognizing Israel's (temporary) de facto status, strongly supported the Palestinians' right to an independent state. As the peace deal reached a conclusion, leading to Israeli-occupied areas being restored to Egypt, Iran congratulated and expressed its support for both sides.

Ardeshir Zahedi, who served as Iran's ambassador to Washington D.C. during the Egyptian-Israeli peace deal, wrote in his memoirs: "Without Iran's involvement and the secret measures we took (in which I had an effective role based in Washington), the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement, which is the basis of a kind of stability in the Middle East, could not have been achieved."

Less than six months after the Egyptian-Israeli treaty came the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979, and Ruhollah Khomeini’s characterization of the deal as a betrayal of Palestine. He personally severed Iran's political ties with Egypt, a situation that persists today.

Fifteen years later, Jordan signed a similar agreement with Israel. But despite Ayatollah Khomeini's extreme response to Egypt, his successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, did not sever ties with Jordan. Even 10 years later, he hosted a meeting with King Abdullah II, King of Jordan in Tehran. During the meeting, Khamenei called Israel a "breaker of the treaty,” eliciting approval from some Muslim countries.

Over the last four decades, the historic Israel-Palestine conflict has lost one of its benefactors. The two-state solution, once a national issue, led to religious extremism, and the crisis grew in complexity. Iran, as part of its membership obligations to the United Nations and part of maintaining overall strategic international relations, had to accept that a deal would have to be brokered with Israel, even if it did not formally recognize the country. Officials knew any country involved would have to try to bring both sides to the table to bring about any lasting resolution. 

"The developments of recent decades have shown that the policy we had was the right policy,” Ardeshir Zahedi has said. “It was fair, just and, at the same time, realistic. Today, the basis for peace in the Middle East remains the same."

Iran's policy before the 1979 Revolution was based on the acceptance of two realities, namely the existence of the state of Israel and the defense of the rights of the Palestinian Arabs. Now the UAE, by establishing relations with Israel, has forged a new path, dubbed "historic" by President Trump, and the achievement has commanded global recognition. Iran may criticize the UAE’s moves, but its success in getting Israel to suspend the annexation of disputed territories of Palestine cannot go unnoticed in Tehran.