LONDON(RAHNUMA): The UAE on Friday “categorically rejected” Iran’s attempts to justify its “terrorist attacks” against the Emirates and other Gulf countries.
The comments were made by Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Al-Marar at a BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, which included Iran’s Abbas Araghchi.
Al-Marar told the meeting that his country rejected “any allegations or threats targeting its sovereignty, national security, or independent decision-making,” the Emirates News Agency reported.
He added: “The UAE reserves its full sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights to respond to any threat, allegation, or hostile act.”
The UAE was heavily targeted by Iran at the height of the US-Israeli war with the country.
In recent weeks Abu Dhabi and Tehran have exchanged heated statements and Iran has launched further attacks on the country and its shipping.
Al-Marar told the meeting that since the war started on Feb. 28, the UAE’s air defenses had intercepted around 3,000 drone and missile attacks “that deliberately and directly targeted civilian facilities and critical infrastructure.”
He said: “The UAE does not seek protection from others and is fully capable of deterring this unprovoked aggression.”
Diplomats from BRICS nations failed to issue a joint statement on Friday after the two-day meeting, Reuters reported.
“There were differing views among some members as regards the situation in the West Asia/Middle East region,” India said in a closing chair’s statement.
Araghchi accused the UAE on Thursday of being an “active partner” in the US-Israeli war against his country.
The Iranian minister then claimed on Friday that Iran “only hit American military bases and American military installations which are unfortunately on their soil.”
UAE officials in recent days have condemned Iranian statements about the country and insisted that the Emirates is committed to a political solution to end the war.
Gulf countries and the US are gathering support at the UN for a draft Security Council resolution to put pressure on Iran to allow ships to resume free passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The closure of the waterway has severely restricted energy exports from the Gulf and is an “act of piracy,” Al-Marar said.
