Iran warns of moves to boost presence of Israeli regime in region

The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly denounces the United Arab Emirates' recent hosting of the Israeli regime's prime minister, Naftali Bennett.

Saeed Khatibzadeh reaffirmed the permanent and definite cause of the liberation of Holy Quds as the first qibla of world Muslims.

He said that regional people have not forgotten the heinous and hostile acts of the Zionist regime which are the root cause of all problems in the region, adding that the region’s people will remain opposed to the normalization of ties with this regime.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that welcoming the prime minister of an illegitimate regime which has been the root cause and creator of insecurity, tension and warmongering for more than 70 years in the territory of Arab and Muslim countries will linger in the historical memory of the Palestinian people, regional nations and the freedom-seeking people of the world.

Khatibzadeh stressed that the Zionist regime is the arch-foe of the Islamic world and Arab countries and no normalization move will stifle the lofty cause of Palestine.

Bennett met with the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, earlier in the day, becoming the first ruler of the Israeli regime to visit the Persian Gulf state.

The visit came more than a year after the two sides agreed to establish formal relations under a United States-brokered deal.

The visit came only a day after Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian youth in the head during clashes in the city of Nablus in the northwestern part of the occupied West Bank.

Various Palestinian groups have likewise reacted strongly to the development, with the Gaza Strip-based Islamic Jihad resistance movement considering any act of normalization with the Tel Aviv regime to be tantamount to “betrayal to Palestine.”