UAE accused of treachery
US envoy visits Emirates’ air bases as Iran slams recognition of Israel as treason
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s adviser, Jared Kushner, and US officials visited a major air base in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, speaking to Emirati and American pilots on the tarmac, as Iran’s supreme leader called the UAE’s recognition of Israel “treason that will not last for long”.
The US-brokered deal to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE reflects a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about Iran have overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.
While the US says the deal will promote regional peace and stability, the belligerent threat by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underlined the risks inherent in the rapprochement.
The US delegation, headed by Kushner, arrived in the UAE on an El Al plane on Monday in the first direct commercial passenger flight between the two countries. The flight followed an agreement brokered by the Trump administration last month that saw the two countries agree to establish diplomatic relations.
The Israeli delegation was returning home yesterday after a quick visit that included high-level meetings.
While at the base near Abu Dhabi, Kushner and US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien met Emirati Major-General Falah al-Qahtani, a top defence official. Thousands of US troops work at the base.
“Our relationship has been built on trust and mutual support. We have stood together to fight extremism in all of its forms,” al-Qahtani told reporters.
O’Brien said that the US expected a “significant security aspect” in the Israel-UAE normalisation, without elaborating. Journalists also toured a joint command centre run by both the US and UAE at the site.
Kushner, not wearing a mask, shook hands with US and Emirati pilots gathered for the event. He also left a written message at the base.
“May the relationship with America continue to grow and together, through strength, will benefit as we bring more peace and prosperity to the Middle East and beyond!” he wrote.
But as the visit drew to a close, state media in Iran begin broadcasting Khamenei’s remarks, which referred the UAE’s recognition of Israel as a “stain” on the country.
“The UAE committed treachery against either the Islamic world or Arab nations and regional countries, as well as Palestine,” Khamenei said. “The treason will not last for long.”
Both the UAE and Israel share a mutual suspicion of Iran. The UAE’s day-to-day ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has long warned about Iran’s intentions, particularly its nuclear programme. That’s a concern shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iran has insisted its programme was only for peaceful purposes. But since Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Tehran has broken all the limits the accord placed on its programme amid a series of escalating incidents in the region.
An Emirati official dismissed Khamenei’s comments.
“The path to peace and prosperity is not through incitement and hate speech,” Foreign Ministry official Jamal al-Musharakh said. “That kind of rhetoric is counterproductive to peace in the region.”
The journalists’ visit to Al-Dhafra showed the change in the relationship between the Emirates and the US, which established defence deals with the UAE amid the 1991 Gulf War.
But the US military has for years only vaguely referred to Al-Dhafra as a base in “south-west Asia”. In recent years, the UAE has been far more willing to acknowledge the US presence in a country that hosts some 5 000 American troops. Dubai’s Jebel Ali port also is the US Navy’s busiest port of call outside of America.
Al-Dhafra has hosted US Air Force F-35 stealth warplanes for years, as well as surveillance aircraft, armed drones and refuelling planes. The American delegation’s visit to the base during the this tour suggests a sale of the F-35s to the UAE, which has long coveted the advanced aircraft, could be a key part of the deal.