UAE calls on Iran to join global fight against extremism in Middle East

Fresh calls have been sounded to Iran by the UAE to join the global fight against the rise of violent extremists operating in the region.

Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, has called for a ‘robust response’ from the international community in the face of regional instability, reported Wam, the state news agency.

Addressing the security council, Ambassador Nusseibeh said a major cause of instability in the Middle East was the “rise in the rampant use of force against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of states”.

While the UAE welcomed the nuclear agreement reached with Iran last year, the hope for a more constructive Iranian role in the region has failed to materialise, she added.

“States throughout the region continue to be alarmed by the Iranian constitution, which calls for the export of its revolution to other countries,” said Ambassador Nusseibeh.

“The principles of the sovereign equality of Member States and of non-intervention as outlined in Article 2 of the Charter are continually violated by Iran’s successive attempts at destabilisation across the region.”

She further noted that Iran’s past behaviour, particularly the occupation by Iranian forces of three islands in the Arabian Gulf that are part of the United Arab Emirates, remains in contravention of Article 2 of the UN Charter.

Ambassador Nusseibeh also addressed the challenge of ISIL and other non-state extremist groups.

She noted that while the primary responsibility for the grave crimes they commit lies with the extremists themselves, the suffering they impose is a consequence of a failure by the international community through the UN to effectively deal with these groups and their backers within international law.