Prof: UAE, Bahrain seek legitimacy from "foreign alliances"

New York, Sept 16, IRNA - UAE and Bahrain are seeking legitimacy and security from foreign alliances, a professor in the History department at California State University San Bernardino said on Wednesday. To achieve security, Abu Dhabi and Manama have stared at Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister) and Trump (US President) instead of relying on [their] people and cooperation with regional states, David Yaghoubian told IRNA in an exclusive interview. Announcement of normalization of ties with the Zionist regime of Israel is made to save Trump and Netanyahu as the two are suffering from internal problems, Yaghoubian noted. "By making its relationship with the Israeli apartheid regime public, especially in the context of a US presidential election timetable, the al-Khalifa house again signals that it is doubling down on the status quo, American empire and the US military-industrial complex, expansionist Zionism, monarchical despotism and the erroneous assumption that security and prosperity in the region can be purchased from foreigners." Time of the US presidential election is near, so Donald Trump is trying hard to show in vain that he has been successful in achieving his goals during his presidency, the professor said. He further referred to "marginalization of Palestinians and their supporters" as another aim behind normalization of ties with Israel. "Indeed, the Bahraini regime has maintained relations with Israel for over two decades, and it is well known that Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet." About US sanctions against Iran, the professor said, "Maximum pressure and sanctions against Iran are all about Israel, US global hegemony, and the petrodollar, rather than Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program." Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement released on September 12 vehemently condemned the announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations between Bahrain and the Zionist regime as a shameful and ignominious measure by Bahrain that would sacrifice the cause of Palestine, decades of struggles, and the Palestinian people’s fortitude against miseries and sufferings for the sake of US election. In a related development, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in a statement in mid-August described agreement between the Zionist regime and the United Arab Emirates as historical foolishness which accelerates Israeli annihilation.