Iran rejects ‘baseless’ UAE claims about fueling insecurity

Iran has dismissed “baseless” allegations leveled by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about Tehran undermining regional security, calling on Abu Dhabi to accept the realities and stop rehashing unfounded claims.

“The repetition of baseless claims will not change historical realities,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, said on Sunday.

He added that the UAE’s projectionist efforts and accusing other countries of fueling instability in the region come at a time that Abu Dhabi has given up its traditional conservative role in favor of certain “extremist and warmongering players in the region” over recent years.

Instead of helping reduce tensions, Abu Dhabi has been trying to deepen gaps and spread war, he said.

The Iranian spokesperson emphasized that the Islamic Republic has always believed that policies that support Takfiri terrorism have put the region “on the brink of irreversible catastrophes and hardship.”

Addressing the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting on Saturday, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan claimed that Iran is seeking to undermine regional security since it signed a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries last year. He also alleged that Iran is sponsoring terrorism.

The minister once again repeated UAE’s allegations with regard to Tehran’s sovereignty over the three islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa in the Persian Gulf and called on Iran to return them.

In response, Qassemi reaffirmed that the three islands are an inseparable part of the Iranian territory.

The islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa have always been part of Iran historically, the proof of which can be found in and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid baseless claims to the islands.

Qassemi stressed that all regional countries must adopt realistic and anti-terror policies to help solve the ongoing crises in the region.