'Childish Remarks': Iran Slams Israeli Envoy to India For Accusing It of 'Destabilising' West Asia

Besides the UAE, Israel last year also normalised ties with Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. All the diplomatic agreements were mediated by the US under former President Donald Trump. Iran has labelled the so-called Abraham Accords as “strategic idiocy” and a “stab on the back” of Palestinian people.

The Iranian Embassy in India on Friday took Naor Gilon, Israel's new ambassador to New Delhi, to task a day after the envoy used his maiden press conference after arriving from Tel Aviv to accuse Tehran of “destabilising” the west Asian region.

Iran Embassy press release in response to alleged childish remarks of an adventurous envoy. pic.twitter.com/YbxuGPOxxs

— Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) October 29, 2021

In a terse statement, the Iranian mission said that Israel’s human rights’ record in the region, whether in “massacring Palestinians” or the “scandalous involvement” in the Pegasus spyware controversy is “well-known to everybody".

The Iranian statement also red-flagged what was described as Israel’s "aggressive" policies towards other regional neighbours such as Syria and Lebanon.

“Certainly, great civilisations with great history of peace and co-existence are smarter than falling into traps of such selfish and blood-thirsty regime with huge records of human rights abuses, killings of children and the childish remarks of its evil-minded Zionist envoy,” the Iranian Embassy statement said, in what appears to be a reference to India.

During a five-day visit to Israel this month, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid held the first meeting of a new four-nation grouping, also comprising the US and the United Arab Emirates.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended the meeting virtually.

A fruitful first meeting with Israeli APM and FM @YairLapid, UAE FM @ABZayed and US Secretary of State @SecBlinken this evening.

Discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues. Agreed on expeditious follow-up. pic.twitter.com/kVgFM0r6hs

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 18, 2021

Israeli officials have said that the new grouping would focus on economic cooperation, including boosting infrastructure and regional connectivity and was a direct outcome of the Abraham Accords signed last year.

The historic Abraham Accords, mediated by the US and announced on 13 August last year, led to normalisation of ties between Israel and the UAE.

The text agreement of the Abraham Accords stipulates that both Israel and the UAE “stand ready to join with the United States to develop and launch a 'Strategic Agenda for the Middle East' in order to expand regional diplomatic, trade, stability and other cooperation.”

'Similar Evaluation' of Events in the Region, Says Israeli Ambassador

On Thursday, Israeli Ambassador Gilon reiterated that the four nations coming together was a consequence of the Abraham Accords which he said were signed because of “similar concerns”, as shared by Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, about the role of Iran in the region.

“We are very much aware that India has its own interests in Afghanistan and Iran. They were put forward [by foreign minister Jaishankar during his recent trip to Israel],” the diplomat said. “Israel was very clear about Iran, and India also spoke about its own interest,” Gilon added.

“As I said before, many of the evaluations of what’s happening are similar,” the Israeli envoy said.

Gilon, however, also clarified that the four-nation grouping wasn't directed at any country, Iran included, and was more focused on economic cooperation.