Angry at Iran & Turkey, UAE pleads for Saudi ‘leadership’

Angered by growing Iranian and Turkish influence, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – a Saudi Arabian satellite state – calls on Arab states to come together under the leadership of Riyadh and Cairo amid what it calls the “geostrategic competition” in the region.

“The world is at an impasse,” Anwar Gargash, UAE state foreign minister, claimed in a tweet on Wednesday, adding that “the solution is to co-operate in the face of surrounding regional ambitions.”

The Emirati official further wrote “the geostrategic competition taking place in the region calls for strengthened Arab [unity] with Riyadh and Cairo as its pillar.”

Earlier this month, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said his country and Saudi Arabia are forming a new all-out alliance as the existing crisis in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) has cast doubt over the future of the Arab bloc.

The remarks come amid a new diplomatic spat between Turkey and the UAE.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the retweet and called on the UAE foreign minister to “know (his) place!”

Turkey has also sided with Qatar since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Doha on June 5, accusing the kingdom of sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region. Qatar denies the claims.

The four countries have also imposed a series of economic sanctions against Doha while barring Qatari aircraft from using their airspace. Qatar’s only land border with Saudi Arabia has also been blocked as a result.

There has been almost no sign that Qatari authorities would bow to a list of conditions drawn up by Saudi Arabia and its allies to restore diplomatic ties.

Among those conditions are the need for Qatar to downgrade its relations with Iran and expel foreign troops, including those from Turkey, from military bases in the country.

SS