UAE-Israel deal ‘betrayal’ of Palestinian cause: Iran paper

TEHRAN: An ultraconservative Iranian newspaper said on Saturday that the United Arab Emirates' decision to normalise ties with Israel was a "betrayal" of the Palestinian cause.

US President Donald Trump announced the deal between Israel and the UAE on Thursday, in a move welcomed by allies of the United States and Israel but denounced by Iran, Turkey and the Palestinians.

The Kayhan daily, considered to be the mouthpiece of ultraconservatives in Iran, said the agreement was a "betrayal" of the Palestinian cause.

The deal reached with the UAE is only the third such accord Israel has struck with an Arab state.

As part of the agreement, Israel pledged to suspend annexation of Palestinian lands, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that did not mean it was abandoning plans to one day annex the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank.

Iran's government has strongly condemned the agreement.

The move was an act of "strategic stupidity from Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv which will undoubtedly strengthen the resistance axis in the The UAE downgraded ties with Iran in 2016 amid fierce rivalry between its ally Saudi Arabia and the Islamic republic.

But their relations had appeared to be on the mend in recent months, with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif holding rare talks with his UAE counterpart only last week," the foreign ministry said on Friday.