UAE- Iran's gross interference in Arab affairs cannot continue: paper

ABU DHABI 5th January 2016 (WAM) -- Iran has acted with overbearing arrogance for many years and its Arab neighbours have shown exceptional patience as they have sought to build proper relations required between sovereign nations based on mutual respect and a clear understanding that one nation should not interfere in the internal affairs of others said a daily newspaper in an editorial today.

"But to no avail. Despite many warnings Iran has persisted with supporting large parts of Iraq against the rest fomenting unrest in Bahrain playing an active part in the Syrian civil war working with Hezbollah in Lebanon and backing Al Houthi rebels in Yemen to list only the more obvious parts of Iran's programme of destabilisation" said Gulf News.

Over the past week Saudi Arabia carried out judicial penalties on people found guilty of supporting terrorism and provoking strife and division within the Kingdom. The people executed were Saudi citizens living in Saudi Arabia and were required to follow Saudi law. Like in any other country any citizen is a citizen first and any other sectarian tribal or social links must come second to that primary loyalty.

"It is deeply offensive and profoundly wrong that Iran should claim to be some kind of protector for Shiites all over the region or all over the world. Iran has every right to judge and look after its own citizens but it has no right at all to do the same to citizens of another sovereign state. Iran is wrong to protest at the Saudis' inalienable right to carry out judicial sentences on its own citizens. This is why H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foreign Minister was quick to declare the UAE's full principled and unwavering support for Saudi Arabia over any deterrent measures it takes to counter extremism and terrorism. The UAE acted along with the entire Arab community in rejecting Iran's efforts to provoke terrorism and civil strife" it said.

The editorial went on to say that the UAE was right to further back Saudi Arabia when it later cut diplomatic ties with Iran in disgust at its failure to protect the Saudi Embassy in Tehran against well-organised attacks and over the Iranian outburst over Saudi Arabia exercising what is its clear right to carry out judicial sentences against those who had been convicted after they had been proven with evidence that the people concerned had committed crimes.

"In the furore well organised groups of men stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. It is shocking that the Saudi diplomats trapped in their embassy in Tehran tried repeatedly to call the Iranian Foreign Ministry to tell them that their lives and mission were at risk and that the Iranian authorities failed to answer the call" it said.

Gulf News concluded by saying that It is an important part of the UAE's unflinching support for Saudi Arabia at this delicate time that the UAE has condemned both Iran's flagrant interference in Saudi affairs over the sentences handed down by the Saudi judicial authorities against terrorist groups and that such Iranian intervention in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs undermines the efforts aimed at building confidence between Iran and the countries of the region. "It is a matter of great regret that Iran has flung away the opportunity to emerge from the isolation in which it was kept for years thanks to its controversial nuclear programme. Iran's acceptance of international standards should have allowed it to make a fresh start but its persistence with maintaining its gross interference in countries all over the Arab world has ruled that out. It has to remain a pariah state if it cannot learn to work within normal international standards" it said.