The Nation newspaper in its editorial comments on Tuesday said the visit of Naftali Bennett to the UAE was bound to happen but the deepening of ties and increasing integration of Zionists regime within the Middle East’s political landscape does not bode well for the stability of the region.
“Among other regional political and economic issues, it comes as no surprise that Iran and its nuclear programme is going to be on the agenda,” said the paper.
The editorial added that the visit not only will further damage the Palestinian cause, but it will once more illustrate how countries in the region have opportunistically exploited the issue for decades.
"Israel—which is obsessed with Iran and is dangerously hawkish—could spell disaster for the region’s stability,” said the paper.
It went on to say it is futile to point out that the obsession over Iran’s nuclear program reeks of hypocrisy on part of the international community, but to paint Tehran as a notorious actor that is the source of all that is wrong in the region is a tad much.
“It is not Iran that needs to be more accommodating and flexible, but the US given how it reneged on the JCPOA and sabotaged the agreement,” said the Nation.
It said it remains to be seen how things shape up going forward and how the UAE and others in the Persian Gulf position themselves. The UAE has made certain overtures to convey that it would perhaps want to normalize relations to some extent with Tehran and even sent an envoy there last week.
“One would hope that countries in the Middle East learn from history and do not get drawn into conflict because of Israel’s paranoia. It will be hard for actors in the region to exercise their agency fully with the US positioning on the issue however,” said the editorial.
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