(Jerusalem Post) Lahav Harkov - UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Dec. 6 with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs President Dore Gold said the Emiratis are probably trying to place themselves in a position of greater neutrality so they won't be targeted by Iran. However, he said that effort is misguided. "If anyone thinks that by giving in to Iran, it will make them suddenly behave better, they're sorely mistaken. That will only invite greater Iranian intervention in the Middle East," Gold warned. Gold, who was in Bahrain for the recent Global Think Tank Summit, saw the meeting in terms of the UAE bracing itself for a Middle East with less support and intervention from the U.S. After the recent U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Emiratis "perceive some kind of American weakness," Gold said. "The buzz is all about what is going on with the UAE and the U.S. Their perception is that America is leaving the Middle East - something that Iran talks about all the time, including [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, and is a strategic goal." "Iran has had a long-term interest in undermining the Abraham Accords....When the UAE sends a senior minister from the royal family to Tehran, it's the strongest indication that that strategy is starting to work. It's one thing to have a meeting at the UN or a European capital, but it's another to go to Tehran and invite the president of Iran to come to your capital. In terms of gradation, they're moving very fast, very hard." "It may be close to too late" to head off the warming of UAE-Iran ties, "but it's important that we try," Gold said. "In a period in which Israeli-Iranian relations are more problematic than ever, Israel needs a strong strategic partner in the Middle East, and the UAE is certainly that kind of a partner."
2021-12-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive