Iran mulling over downgrading UAE ties

Sun Mar 6, 2011

Members of Iranian parliament (Majlis) are set to review a bill on downgrading ties with the United Arab Emirates following the mistreatment of Iranian nationals by Emirati officials.

Member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said the body would first review the new legislation.

“The bill has been handed over to the governing board of the Majlis Foreign Policy Commission for more concise and critical review,” Fars News Agency quoted Falahatpisheh as saying on Saturday.

The lawmaker added that the insulting attitude toward Iranians traveling to the UAE is the main reason lawmakers are proposing that the Islamic Republic reconsiders its ties with the sheikhdom.

“The nature of Iran's trade relations with the Emirates is to the benefit of the UAE and in return their treatment of the citizens of our country is absolutely unacceptable,” Falahatpisheh stated.

He added that the UAE's attitude toward Iran on political issues is not on a par with the level of trade, tourism, and financial cooperation between the two countries either.

The Iranian lawmaker's remarks come at a time when the Persian Gulf littoral state has drawn criticism from Iran over the decision to construct artificial islands.

On Monday, Brigadier General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, senior military adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, described the construction of the islands without consulting other coastal countries as illegal.

The Iranian commander also revealed that the artificial islands would reduce the distance between the UAE and the Iranian island of Abu Musa by 10 kilometers, making it possible to change water borders in the Persian Gulf.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168504.html.