The United Arab Emirates should sever commercial ties with Iran’s regime, Dubai’s security chief has said.
Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, Head of General Security for the Emirate of Dubai, claimed the authorities in the UAE should cease renewing trade licenses and ask business owners to leave the country within three years, the local news organization 7DAYS reported on Monday.
Khalfan made the comments on Twitter.
Iran’s regime supports the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen, and Shia militias in Lebanon and Syria.
Khalfan wrote: “We shouldn’t allow any Iranian to open a commercial shop in the Arabian Gulf. They are not allowing us to open a shack [in their country]. They are useless.”
He further claimed: “China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa are a thousand times better than Iran for commercial trading.”
He continued: “Within three years, we must ask all Iranian shop owners to leave the country and not to renew their trade license. Our people need to open those shops instead of Iranians.”
Khalfan went on to say that Gulf States should ban Iranian commodities from sale as part of efforts to combat “reckless behavior” on the part of Iran’s regime.
Khalfan – who has 1.3 million Twitter followers – further urged them to avoid Iranian goods.
He said: “Every dirham spent on Iranian goods will go towards killing more Syrians and will be used in buying weapons and explosives. Leave the Iranian goods on their shelves. Investment in Iran is just like investment for Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.”
In January, the UAE downgraded its diplomatic presence in Iran, saying Tehran’s meddling in the affairs of its Gulf neighbors had reached an “unprecedented” level.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned home Saif Al Zaabi, the UAE Ambassador in Tehran, leaving the embassy in the hands of a charge d’affaires.
The ministry also said at the time that it would require Iran’s regime to reduce the number of its personnel stationed in the UAE.
The move came after Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran’s regime after protesters stormed and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
