TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday condemned the move of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish diplomatic ties with Israel as "a betrayal of the cause of the Palestinian nation," Tasnim news agency reported.
"This move is incorrect, wrong and totally reprehensible, and it is a betrayal to the cause of the Palestinian nation, to the cause of Muslims, and to the cause of Jerusalem," Rouhani said during a cabinet briefing.
The UAE leaders wrongly think that by "attaching themselves to the United States and the Zionist regime" they will guarantee their own security and economical growth, the Iranian president added.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also slammed this diplomatic move by the UAE as "a clear betrayal of the common cause of the Islamic community."
The normalization has been "planned and led by the terroristic and inhumane regime of the United States," the IRGC said in an official statement reported by Tasnim.
The establishment of UAE-Israel diplomatic ties is aimed to "legitimize the Zionist regime, weaken the Palestinian resistance front and put aside the questions of Jerusalem and Palestine," said the IRGC statement.
The Israel-UAE agreement to establish full diplomatic relations was announced on Thursday in a joint statement of the United States, Israel and the UAE.
The announcement made the UAE the first Gulf Arab state, as well as the third Arab country after Egypt and Jordan, to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Enditem
