Afghan official: Emirates-Israel cat-and-mouse game, in context of deal of century

Kabul, Aug 17, IRNA - Leader of Hizb-e Nahzat-e Melli Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Party) said that normalization of diplomatic relations between UAE and the Zionist regime of Israel is a the cat-and-mouse game in the context of "deal of century." Such relations will be registered in Emirates' history as a shameful measure, Mohammad Mukhtar Mufleh told IRNA in an exclusive interview. By normalization of relations with Israel, some other Arab states would not be expected to put "deal of the century" aside anymore and support the cause of the oppressed Palestinian Muslims, Mufleh said. 'Deal of the century' is a so-called US initiative to bring peace between Palestinians and the Zionist regime. It has been widely condemned because it has ignored the Palestinian nation's rights. He denounced the diplomatic ties with Israel whose existence is based on brutality and occupation of the Islamic territories. Mufleh described such relations as maneuver carried out by the Israeli occupying regime and the arrogant United States to take over the Islamic lands. He said that the UAE should put due economic and political pressures on Israel to stop settlement in Palestinian territories instead of crossing the red lines of the Islamic countries to have diplomatic relations with the occupiers. He further stressed that Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Party strongly condemns normalized relations between UAE and the Zionist regime of Israel and sees those relations as scandalous in the history of Islam. Describing the relationship as new problem for the Muslim World, Mufleh warned against continuation of such ties. At the end of his remarks, the senior Afghan official called on all countries in the Muslim World and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to slam fresh ties between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and prevent the ties from being normalized. In a related development, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in its August 16 statement that the agreement between the Zionist regime and the United Arab Emirates accelerates Israeli annihilation.