Israel, Arab states coordinating anti-Iran efforts: Tel Aviv's UN envoy

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations says the regime and various Arab countries have been working together at the UN and elsewhere against Iran.

News ID: 447396

Date: 30 September 2019 - 10:08

RNA - In a phone interview with The Jerusalem Post published on Saturday, Danny Danon said Tel Aviv was planning a number of actions against Tehran at the UN, adding although Arab states were not co-sponsors, but there was “cooperation” between them.

Israel and several Arab countries, he said, were coordinating efforts to "reveal" what he called "the true face of the Iranians.”

Israel has full diplomatic ties with only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, but latest reports suggest Tel Aviv is working behind the scenes to establish formal contacts with such countries as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by trying to portray Iran as a common threat.

Danon compared the Arab states' attitude towards Iran before the 2015 nuclear deal and that of the current time, where Washington’s withdrawal from the accord in May 2018 and the Europeans' failure to fulfill their commitments under the agreement has left its fate in limbo.

Danon claimed the Arab countries were content to let Israel lead the battle against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) prior to its signing, but they are now actively involved with Israel in conveying the message of the alleged Iranian threat.

He cited the participation of Saudi Arabia’s Persian Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan and UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, alongside Israel's US Ambassador Ron Dermer, in an anti-Iran summit in New York last Wednesday, as an instance of coordination between Tel Aviv and Arab countries.

Danon also claimed that recent raids by Yemeni forces against key Saudi oil facilities “made the Iranian threat much more real” for many Arab countries at the UN. “They are taking it much more seriously.”

The Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement took credit for the September 14 air raids on two Aramco installations, saying they were a response to the Saudi-led war on their country.

However, Riyadh and Washington — the main sponsor of the war on Yemen — pointed the finger at Iran, without providing any evidence.

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