Iran says UAE playing 'active role' against them as Lebanon-Israel talks due

HEADLINES

• Iran has accused the United Arab Emirates of playing an active role in the US-Israeli war against Iran. READ MORE BELOW

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he held a "secret" meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during the war with Iran, a claim denied by the UAE. READ MORE BELOW

• A ship off the UAE coast near the Strait of Hormuz has been taken by unknown people and is now headed towards Iran, a UK maritime agency said.

• Lebanon's health ministry said 22 people including eight children were killed on Wednesday as Israel intensified strikes on the country, with several deadly raids hitting south of Beirut.

• Lebanon and Israel are to hold new peace talks in Washington starting on Thursday, as their latest ceasefire - considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes - nears its end. READ MORE BELOW

• Several Israeli civilians were injured and evacuated to hospital for treatment after an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah fell within Israeli territory near the Israel-Lebanon border, the Israeli military said.

• A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday.

Iran calls UAE 'active partner' in US-Israel war

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi accused the United Arab Emirates of direct involvement in military operations against his country during a BRICS meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, Iranian state media reported.

The spat comes a day after a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he visited the Gulf country during the Iran war, to which Araqchi reacted by saying that "those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account."

"I didn't name the UAE in my (BRICS) statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn't even issue a condemnation," state media quoted Araqchi as saying on Thursday, in response to comments made by the Emirati representative.

Iranian state media did not specify what the Emirati representative said.

According to the reports, Araqchi argued that neither U.S. bases nor an alliance with Israel provided the UAE with security and that it should reconsider its policy toward Iran.

He also urged BRICS nations to condemn what he called violations of international law by the United States and Israel, including "their illegal aggression against Iran."

Araqchi said Iran was prepared to defend itself while also pursuing diplomacy, insisting there was "no such thing as a military solution" involving Iran.

The Iran war began with US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, with Tehran responding by firing missiles and drones at U.S. bases and other targets in Gulf countries.

UAE denies Netanyahu visit claim

Earlier, the United Arab Emirates' foreign ministry denied the statement by Netanyahu's office that he visited the country and held a secret meeting with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin ​Zayed.

A statement by the Emirati foreign ministry said that Emirati relations with Israel "are public" and "not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements."

"Any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE," the statement said.

Netanyahu's office said the meeting resulted in an "historic breakthrough" in relations between the two countries.

A source familiar with the meeting said Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed met in Al-Ain, an oasis city by the Oman border, on March 26 and that their meeting lasted several hours.

The source said that Mossad Chief Dedi Barnea made at least two visits to the UAE during the war with Iran to coordinate military actions. The intelligence chief's visit was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Lebanon-Israel peace talks scheduled

Lebanon and Israel are to hold new peace talks in Washington starting Thursday. Their representatives last met on April 23 at the White House, where US President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension and voiced optimism for a groundbreaking agreement between the countries, which have technically been at war for decades.

The ceasefire, which began on April 17, lasts until Sunday. 

Still, Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people during the truce, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.

A Lebanese official said the country would seek "the consolidation of the ceasefire" during the talks in Washington. "The first thing is to put an end to the death and destruction," the official added.

Iran has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any agreement to end the wider war in the region.

Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed more than 2,800 people in Lebanon, including at least 200 children, according to Lebanese authorities, a toll Hezbollah says includes its fighters.

Israel has pounded Hezbollah strongholds in the south and Beirut's southern suburbs, and has invaded the border region, parts of which Israel previously occupied for around two decades until withdrawing in 2000.

Thursday's meeting will be the third round of talks between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations.