ID :
43584
Sun, 02/01/2009 - 13:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/43584
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The escalation by Iran against the UAE is neither understandable nor justified: Gargash
Abu Dhabi, February 1, 2009 (WAM) - Iran's escalation (of a war of words) against the UAE is neither understandable nor justified, according to UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Anwar Gargash.
He said he viewed the escalation as perhaps being related to the internal situation in Iran and the forthcoming Iranian elections.
"This kind of escalation does not, in anyway, serve the existing relations between the two countries," Gargash said in an interview with the Dubai-based "Al-Arabiya" Satellite TV Channel. The interview was aired yesterday.
The minister reiterated the UAE's 37 years old long-standing stance on its three occupied islands: the need to deal with the issue through bilateral negotiations or through international arbitration.
He pointed out that UAE's absence from the Doha Summit was due to the lack of a quorum. He firmly rejected Iran's claim that Iranians are being mistreated at UAE airports, and that the Shiite clerics are being harassed in the UAE. He said those allegations are totally unfounded.
"We sincerely hope we could start to solve the issues which obstruct the growing and flourishing relations between us without the need to start new ones," Gargash added.
Following is the full text of the interview: Q1: In what context does the UAE place the escalations (of a war of words) regarding the issue of the three islands? A1: As a matter of fact, the current Iranian escalation (of a war of words) is neither understandable nor justified. We in the UAE remain committed to making our approach to this issue as calm and a constructive one.
Our relations with Iran, to which we remain committed, are long-standing. Although this escalation, which we recently started to see coming from the Iranian side, is just in the form of words coming from various levels, as I said it is neither understandable nor justified. Perhaps it may be partially stemming from Iran's internal situation as well as the forthcoming elections. But anyway, it does not serve the interests of the existing relations between us and Iran.
Q2: You put this in the context of electoral rhetoric. But as you also said this escalation comes from various levels, from clerics, politicians and from some websites. Why then do you place it within the context of the Iranian forthcoming elections and not within the context of regional escalation? A2: As I said, a large part of this escalation is not justified. But whatever the case might be, there could be other reasons. Although we, in the field of bilateral relations with Iran, closely study this escalation, we are yet to understand what exactly the causes are. Let's take, for instance, the issue of the three UAE islands. This problem is 37 years old but the UAE stance on the issue remains unchanged from day one up to this date. That is the need to deal with this issue through bilateral negotiations or through international arbitration. Our stance remains unchanged. That is why we see this escalation as very unfortunate and unjustified.
Q3: Is it true that the UAE failed to participate in the Doha summit in protest at the presence of the Iranian President, and as part of the three island crisis, as some Iranian quarters have said? A3: We decided to participate in the Doha summit as an Emergency Arab Summit, but when the summit failed to garner the 15 members needed to form a quorum, the UAE decided not to take part. This is the fact of the matter. I know there are a lot of speculations and misinterpretations out there but this is the fact of the matter on the UAE's decision. That is, the summit was earlier designated as an Arab summit, should there have been a quorum, but there was no quorum. That is all.
Q4: As part of this escalation which you termed as "a war of words", there are calls within Iran to break bilateral or economic ties with the UAE, particularly the cancellation of the third GSM licenses issued to Etisalat (UAE Telecommunications Corporation) should the issue reach an alarming height. Do you think this escalation can take another dimension? A4: We have taken into consideration relations between the UAE and Iran. We always believe that these relations are mature. When we say mature we mean relations which many areas of agreement and areas disagreement. The areas of agreement between us include issues like movement of goods and people, issues related to the geographical location in the Arabian Gulf, issues related to economic cooperation as well as many others. But there are three major issues on which we disagree. The first is the issue of the three occupied UAE islands. The second issue is that of the Iranian nuclear programme and the need for transparency and credibility regarding that programme. The third issue is that of topics related to what we see as (Iran's) political interference in the Arab world. On these issues, the Iranian side has its views, but that does not mean there are no other areas of mutual interest where we have cooperation and contacts within this framework. We sincerely hope we can start to solve the issues which are obstructing the growing and flourishing relations between us without new ones emerging.
Q5: Is Iran's allegation that its citizens are being maltreated at UAE airports and that Shiite clerics are harassed in the UAE part of this escalation? A5: This is a completely different matter. Let's cite some figures here. What they mean by "airports" is Dubai Airport, which receives more than 40 million travellers annually, while the number of Iranians travelling to Dubai is about 500,000. In this case, we in the UAE carry out searches for all banned substances, particularly narcotics, at all entry points such as Dubai Airport. In 2008, Iranians accounted for 27% of those arrested in a total of 238 cases of drug smuggling. In any case, we do not target a particular group of people in the searches, but we target people from certain areas for security reasons. But to have 238 cases out of 500,000 Iranian travellers who entered the UAE, I think we need to use a calculator to know the percentage. But assuming that there has been a mistake, which is possible because to err is human, it would have been better to deal with such issue through the diplomatic channels. It is of no use, neither to the Iranian side nor to ours, to use the general public to present such a case.
He said he viewed the escalation as perhaps being related to the internal situation in Iran and the forthcoming Iranian elections.
"This kind of escalation does not, in anyway, serve the existing relations between the two countries," Gargash said in an interview with the Dubai-based "Al-Arabiya" Satellite TV Channel. The interview was aired yesterday.
The minister reiterated the UAE's 37 years old long-standing stance on its three occupied islands: the need to deal with the issue through bilateral negotiations or through international arbitration.
He pointed out that UAE's absence from the Doha Summit was due to the lack of a quorum. He firmly rejected Iran's claim that Iranians are being mistreated at UAE airports, and that the Shiite clerics are being harassed in the UAE. He said those allegations are totally unfounded.
"We sincerely hope we could start to solve the issues which obstruct the growing and flourishing relations between us without the need to start new ones," Gargash added.
Following is the full text of the interview: Q1: In what context does the UAE place the escalations (of a war of words) regarding the issue of the three islands? A1: As a matter of fact, the current Iranian escalation (of a war of words) is neither understandable nor justified. We in the UAE remain committed to making our approach to this issue as calm and a constructive one.
Our relations with Iran, to which we remain committed, are long-standing. Although this escalation, which we recently started to see coming from the Iranian side, is just in the form of words coming from various levels, as I said it is neither understandable nor justified. Perhaps it may be partially stemming from Iran's internal situation as well as the forthcoming elections. But anyway, it does not serve the interests of the existing relations between us and Iran.
Q2: You put this in the context of electoral rhetoric. But as you also said this escalation comes from various levels, from clerics, politicians and from some websites. Why then do you place it within the context of the Iranian forthcoming elections and not within the context of regional escalation? A2: As I said, a large part of this escalation is not justified. But whatever the case might be, there could be other reasons. Although we, in the field of bilateral relations with Iran, closely study this escalation, we are yet to understand what exactly the causes are. Let's take, for instance, the issue of the three UAE islands. This problem is 37 years old but the UAE stance on the issue remains unchanged from day one up to this date. That is the need to deal with this issue through bilateral negotiations or through international arbitration. Our stance remains unchanged. That is why we see this escalation as very unfortunate and unjustified.
Q3: Is it true that the UAE failed to participate in the Doha summit in protest at the presence of the Iranian President, and as part of the three island crisis, as some Iranian quarters have said? A3: We decided to participate in the Doha summit as an Emergency Arab Summit, but when the summit failed to garner the 15 members needed to form a quorum, the UAE decided not to take part. This is the fact of the matter. I know there are a lot of speculations and misinterpretations out there but this is the fact of the matter on the UAE's decision. That is, the summit was earlier designated as an Arab summit, should there have been a quorum, but there was no quorum. That is all.
Q4: As part of this escalation which you termed as "a war of words", there are calls within Iran to break bilateral or economic ties with the UAE, particularly the cancellation of the third GSM licenses issued to Etisalat (UAE Telecommunications Corporation) should the issue reach an alarming height. Do you think this escalation can take another dimension? A4: We have taken into consideration relations between the UAE and Iran. We always believe that these relations are mature. When we say mature we mean relations which many areas of agreement and areas disagreement. The areas of agreement between us include issues like movement of goods and people, issues related to the geographical location in the Arabian Gulf, issues related to economic cooperation as well as many others. But there are three major issues on which we disagree. The first is the issue of the three occupied UAE islands. The second issue is that of the Iranian nuclear programme and the need for transparency and credibility regarding that programme. The third issue is that of topics related to what we see as (Iran's) political interference in the Arab world. On these issues, the Iranian side has its views, but that does not mean there are no other areas of mutual interest where we have cooperation and contacts within this framework. We sincerely hope we can start to solve the issues which are obstructing the growing and flourishing relations between us without new ones emerging.
Q5: Is Iran's allegation that its citizens are being maltreated at UAE airports and that Shiite clerics are harassed in the UAE part of this escalation? A5: This is a completely different matter. Let's cite some figures here. What they mean by "airports" is Dubai Airport, which receives more than 40 million travellers annually, while the number of Iranians travelling to Dubai is about 500,000. In this case, we in the UAE carry out searches for all banned substances, particularly narcotics, at all entry points such as Dubai Airport. In 2008, Iranians accounted for 27% of those arrested in a total of 238 cases of drug smuggling. In any case, we do not target a particular group of people in the searches, but we target people from certain areas for security reasons. But to have 238 cases out of 500,000 Iranian travellers who entered the UAE, I think we need to use a calculator to know the percentage. But assuming that there has been a mistake, which is possible because to err is human, it would have been better to deal with such issue through the diplomatic channels. It is of no use, neither to the Iranian side nor to ours, to use the general public to present such a case.
