Iran vigorously condemned the new U.S.-brokered agreements—known as the Abraham Accords—between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed at the White House on September 15, 2020. The new Middle East peace deals, the first in more than a quarter century, dramatically changed the core alliances in the world’s most volatile region and increased pressure on Iran. They created a new Arab-Israeli bloc, backed by the United States, aligned against the Islamic Republic, which has the largest military in the Middle East.
.@khamenei_ir pic.twitter.com/3gGy21ZAp9
— USA darFarsi (@USAdarFarsi) September 16, 2020
On its Farsi-language Twitter account, the State Department posted a photograph of President DonaldTrump with Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini officials at the White House that tagged the account of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
President Hassan Rouhani called the peace deals a “clear betrayal of the Palestinian people, the cause of al Quds (Jerusalem) and Muslims.” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed the accords as politically motivated. President Donald Trump “desperately needed a campaign photo,” he tweeted. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and chief Middle East peace broker “blackmailed their clients into giving him one,” he charged. The following are Iranian reactions to the Abraham Accords.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a speech on September 1: “The UAE betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab world, regional countries and the Palestinian cause. What the UAE government did is a stain of dishonor. Of course, their policy will not work. By Allah’s favor, it will not last long, but the stain will be forever marked on the foreheads of those who carried it out. They committed an act of betrayal. What they did was really bad as they helped the Zionists set foot in the region and they consigned the very important issue of Palestine – which is about usurping a country and rendering an entire people homeless: is this a minor crime? – to oblivion by normalizing relations with the Zionists.
The UAE betrayed the Islamic world, but this won’t last long#UAEStabsMuslims pic.twitter.com/VIX2xXZf1x
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) September 5, 2020
President Hassan Rouhani at a Cabinet meeting on September 16: “Some of the region’s countries, their people are pious Muslims but their rulers neither understand religion nor (their) debt … to the nation of Palestine, to their brothers speaking their language.”
“How could you reach out your hands to Israel? And then you want to give them bases in the region? All the severe consequences that would arise from this are on you.”
Rouhani at a meeting of the national coronavirus taskforce on August 15: “The rulers of the UAE should know that if they think they can get closer to the enemies of Islam and Iran, they can buy security for themselves, they have gone in the wrong direction.”
"Saddam Hussein once asked Iran to remain silent so that it could invade Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and occupy these countries, but Iran did not remain silent in this matter and did not give them the green light and was the first country that condemned the aggression and helped the displaced people of Kuwait.”
"They [the UAE] better be mindful. They have committed a huge mistake, a treacherous act.”
“We warn them against giving Israel a foothold in the region, then they will be treated differently.”
“They thought that if they approach the Zionist regime, their security and economy would be ensured, while this is wrong and 100 percent condemned, and it is a clear betrayal to the Palestinian people, the cause of al Quds (Jerusalem) and Muslims.”
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a call with Ziad al Nakhala, the secretary general of Islamic Jihad, on August 14: “This treacherous behavior will increase the hatred of the people of the region and Palestine against these policies.”
Zarif to Al Mayadeen TV on August 15: “It’s shameful what Abu Dhabi did ... They don’t see the Zionist regime as an enemy, but an ally and what’s happening now is to help Trump in the elections.”
Zarif in a tweet on September 14:
.@realDonaldTrump desperately needed a campaign photo. His son-in-law blackmailed their regional clients into giving him one.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 14, 2020
The only problem: 'Peace agreements' being signed are NOT between foes but longstanding allies.
What a diplomatic coup!
Stay tuned for more... pic.twitter.com/xuoMECm2Um
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on September 14: “The Muslim world will never allow the treacherous plot for the control [of Muslim territories] from the Nile to the Euphrates to be realized.”
Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei at a press conference on September 15: “Iran considers the Zionist regime's interference in the region as a threat. The oppressed people of Palestine and Muslims who have lived with the Palestinian cause will not allow any normalization of relations.”
"Any step taken to formally normalize relations with the Zionist Regime is regarded as a strategic mistake," said Iranian Gov't Spox @Alirabiei_ir in reaction to the attempts of some Arab states to normalize relations with #Israel. pic.twitter.com/OIlhceHOYZ
— IranGov.ir (@Iran_GOV) September 15, 2020
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on September 12: “Undoubtedly, the oppressed and right-seeking people of Palestine and the free Muslims in the world will never approve of normalization of relations with the usurping and lawless Israeli regime, and such shameful measure will remain in the historical memory of the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine and the world’s free nations forever.”
“Instead of gaining legitimacy from its people, the government of Bahrain has unfortunately turned its back on them in a fundamental mistake, has sought the Quds-occupying regime’s shelter, and has sacrificed the cause of honorable Palestine for the domestic U.S. elections.”
“From now on, the Bahraini rulers will be an accomplice in the crimes committed by the Zionist regime as the constant source of threat to security in the region and the Muslim world and as the root cause of decades of violence, massacre, wars, terror and bloodshed in oppressed Palestine and the region.”
“The Bahraini government’s move will definitely result only in escalating anger and perpetual hatred among the oppressed people of Palestine, Muslims and the world’s free nations.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on August 14: “The Islamic Republic of Iran considers Abu Dhabi’s shameful move to normalize relations with the fake, illegitimate and anti-humane Zionist regime as a dangerous measure, warns against any interference by the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf region’s equations, and declares that the Emirati government and the other governments siding with it must accept responsibility for all the consequences of this move.”
“We are confident that this move, which is an act of betrayal, will have no bearing on the resistance of Palestinian people and the movement of the resistance front, and is sure to fuel regional nations and Palestinian people’s hatred of such policies against the cause of Palestine.”
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a statement on August 15: “The United States and the regional and trans-regional supporters of the infamous Abu Dhabi-Tel Aviv agreement know that this heinous act will not serve the interests of the Zionist regime and, contrary to their expectations, it will shatter their dream of a new Middle East and spell a dangerous future for those residing in glass palaces in the UAE.”
"This treacherous act has multiple goals, including legitimizing the fake Zionist regime, weakening the Palestinian resistance front, consigning the issue of Jerusalem Al-Quds and Palestine to oblivion, paving the way for the implementation of the so-called deal of century and the new Middle East project and creating conditions for the Arab world to engage with the occupying regime.”
"The United States as well as regional and trans-regional supporters of the infamous Abu Dhabi-Tel Aviv agreement know that this heinous act will not serve the interests of the Zionist regime, and contrary to their expectations, it will spell a dangerous future for them.”
Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri on August 16: “Today at a time when all freedom-seekers around the world hate and distance themselves from establishing a relationship and friendship with the Zionist regime [of Israel], one of the neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran has brazenly announced that it has established relations with this child-killing regime, which is regrettable.”
“The Zionist regime is struggling for its survival and, showing disregard for Islamic norms and those of Judaism, and is bold enough to commit whatever act of tyranny and oppression in the Muslim world and even against its own people and neighbors.”
“Definitely, the Iranian nation’s approach toward this neighboring country will change fundamentally, and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take other calculations into account when it comes to this country.”
“Should something happen in the Persian Gulf region and the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran be harmed, even slightly, we will hold the UAE accountable for that and we will not tolerate that.”
“We recommend the UAE rethink its decision before it is too late and not keep moving on a path which is to the detriment of the region and its own country.”
Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in an address to lawmakers on August 16: “This deal and compromise is a blatant betrayal of human values, Islamic teachings of the Muslim community and the cause of Palestine. Today, defending Palestine and fighting the Zionist regime [of Israel] is a clear criterion for telling justice-seekers around the world from hypocrites and criminals,”
“The overt standoff between good and evil, hypocrites and Muslims, friends and foes of the criminal Zionist regime will indubitably further strengthen the resistance front on the path to liberating holy Quds.”
“Those who strike up a friendship with the Zionist regime [of Israel] are seen by the entire Muslim community as a traitor, criminal and accomplice to all wicked actions done by the evil Zionist regime in the past, present and future.”