As relations between the Gulf states and Iran warmed up, the Israeli prime minister made his historic first visit to the United Arab Emirates

The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi

On December 12, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying that at the invitation of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett will depart for the first official visit to the UAE on the same day. The two sides would discuss "economic and regional issues that contribute to the promotion of prosperity and stability among countries" during the meeting, the statement said.

Brokered by the Trump administration, Israel has normalized relations with four Arab countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Bennett's visit will be the first official visit to these Arab countries and will be the first Israeli supreme leader in history to visit the UAE during his tenure. Bennett's predecessor, Netanyahu, planned to visit the UAE before leaving office, but eventually the trip was canceled.

Earlier this year, Israeli Foreign Minister Rapid visited the UAE and inaugurated the Israeli Embassy in Afghanistan. Bennett's visit is seen as an opportunity to further consolidate relations between the two countries.

The Iranian nuclear issue is of concern to Israel

Bennett's visit coincides with the impasse in negotiations between Iran and other interested parties on the return to the Iranian nuclear agreement, which may also be the focus of Bennett's attention during the talks. Israel has long expressed its determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, while Iran has stressed that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

On December 9, a new round of talks between the parties to the Iranian nuclear agreement was re-held in Vienna, but France, Germany and other countries said that the prospects for resuming the nuclear agreement were not optimistic, and accused Iran of "calculating the plan" and "delaying time".

On the first day of the resumption of talks in Vienna, White House press secretary Psaki said U.S. President Joe Biden "has asked his national security team to prepare for the failure of the Iran nuclear negotiations." On the same day, US Defense Secretary Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Gantz met at the Pentagon, and the two sides consulted on the possibility of a breakdown in the Iranian nuclear negotiations. However, for this round of Iranian nuclear negotiations, the Iranian side stressed that the country is "taking it very seriously".

In recent weeks, Israel has frequently sent senior diplomats to the United States, Europe and the Middle East to push for a tougher stance on Iran. Bennett called for a halt to the Vienna talks, accused Iran of "nuclear blackmail" and warned the West that Iran would use the proceeds from the lifting of sanctions to support military programs that could hurt Israel.

Relations between Iran and the Gulf states have warmed up

Earlier this month, UAE National Security Adviser Tahnoon bin Zayed visited Iran. Outside analysts believe that this visit is a turning point in the bilateral relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a turning point in Iran's relations with the entire Arab region.

After Saudi Arabia and Iran severed ties in 2017, the UAE downgraded its diplomatic level with Iran from ambassadorial to chargé d'affaires. Tahnon is the first senior EMI official to visit Iran since the two countries lowered diplomatic relations.

Al Jazeera quoted international affairs analyst Ali Bigdali as saying on December 9 that Tahnon's visit to Iran was crucial. He believes that one of the uae's aims is to ask Iran to lower its expectations for nuclear negotiations so as not to cause the negotiations to fail, because once the negotiations fail and cause instability in the region, then neither the UAE nor the entire Gulf region will be safe.

After the UAE, Bahrain and Israel reached an agreement to normalize relations, Iran has voices that Israel may establish military bases in both countries, and Bahrain intends to buy Israel's "Iron Dome" system to counter Iran. But Bigdali said Tahnon's visit was intended to convince Iran that normalizing relations between the UAE and Israel would not pose any security concerns for Iran.

Under the mediation of the Iraqi government, Saudi Arabia has previously held dialogue with Iran in Baghdad. At present, Iran's dialogue with the Gulf countries is still ongoing, but the outside world has not yet seen much progress. According to the Washington Post reported on December 12, the Iranian nuclear agreement is not the focus of dialogue between the Gulf states and Iran, and the source said that Gulf officials have made it clear that they are not prepared to "become a channel for parallel negotiations on the Iranian nuclear agreement, which may weaken the process of the Vienna negotiations." The person familiar with the matter said That Iran asked them to do so, but the move was rejected.

Editor-in-Charge: Yu Xiaoxuan Photo Editor: Hu Mengxi

Proofreader: Luan Meng