Tehran:
Iran has “categorically rejected” the United Arab Emirates‘ allegation that Tehran had launched ballistic missiles towards the Gulf state, calling the claim “baseless” and harmful to regional trust and security efforts. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said such “baseless accusations” should be avoided as a principle of “good neighbourliness”.
But Iran has warned that the Strait of Hormuz — through which shipping leaving UAE ports must pass to exit the Gulf — will remain closed until it reaches a peace agreement with the United States.
In a statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran has “categorically rejected” the UAE’s claim, saying such claims disrupts ongoing efforts to strengthen regional peace.
“This behaviour is contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness and disrupts ongoing efforts to strengthen trust between regional countries and prevent the escalation of insecurity in the region,” Baghaei said in a statement posted on the Ministry’s Telegram channel.
Calling regional countries to refrain from making “baseless accusations” against Tehran, Baghaei said the current situation in the Middle East was already complicated due to what he described as actions by the United States and Israel against regional peace and security.
“… Refrain from making baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran, considering the existing complexities due to the ongoing evils of the US and the Zionist regime against regional peace and security, especially the history of numerous false flag operations,” he said.
Attack On UAE
The comments came after the UAE on Tuesday accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles at shipping in the Gulf, an allegation later denied by Tehran.
“UAE air defenses detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the country, with the first falling outside the country’s territorial waters, while the second fell within the territorial waters,” the ministry said, in a statement posted to social media.
A second statement released later said: “Assessments carried out showed that the two ballistic missiles detected coming from Iran were targeting maritime navigation and fell into the sea.”
Citing regional escalations, the UAE also suspended all trade and financial dealings with Iran until further notice late Tuesday evening.
The UAE statement came hours after a brief phone alert warned residents of a “potential missile threat”. It was the first such alert since a false alarm in June and an alert in July for an attack that ultimately did not enter UAE territory. Before that, the last missile warning came in early May.
Tankers belonging to state-owned oil company ADNOC have been repeatedly targeted in the past few weeks.
When the Middle East war began on February 28, the UAE bore the brunt of Iran’s attacks, with nearly 3,000 missiles and drones directed at the country — more than anywhere else in the region. After a memorandum of understanding came into effect in June between the two parties, which has since collapsed, the UAE reported no attacks, unlike other Gulf states.
