{"id":44293,"date":"2020-11-18T18:27:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44293"},"modified":"2020-11-18T18:27:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:27:31","slug":"ex-un-chief-warns-of-iran-danger-praises-abraham-accords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44293","title":{"rendered":"Ex-UN chief warns of Iran \u2018danger,\u2019 praises Abraham Accords"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nLONDON: The Abraham Accords, signed recently between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, could serve as a blueprint for resolving other conflicts in the Middle East, according to panelists at a discussion hosted by the Emirates Society and attended by Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nEphraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the UK, said the accords are \u201camong the most significant events of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe was joined on the panel by UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimy and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.<\/p>\n

\nThe latter said at the turn of 2019, the region had been on the brink of renewed conflict in the wake of the fraying of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe failure of dialogue, according to Moon, had run concurrently with Iran stockpiling 10 times the quantity of uranium permitted under the terms of the JCPOA.<\/p>\n

\nIranian proxies in Iraq, meanwhile, had attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad, leading to retaliation from Washington in the form of the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020.<\/p>\n

\nThe world had only been spared further escalation, Ban said, by the coronavirus outbreak, which led to a temporary climbdown on all sides.<\/p>\n

\nThough still \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d at the \u201cdangerous\u201d situation with Iran, he said the Abraham Accords have helped reset the tone around seeking dialogue in the region.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI was concerned that other Middle East nations may consider eschewing their commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and developing their own nuclear weapons programs in tandem with Iran\u2019s,\u201d Ban said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIn this regard, I believe there are important lessons to be learned.\u00a0We must \u2026 elevate our sustained efforts to revitalize multilateralism. I see the Abraham Accords as a recent diplomatic victory, and I really hope this momentum can be expanded in other areas between other nations to elevate diplomatic solutions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe Israeli-Palestinian issue, Iran\u2019s nuclear program, the conflict in Syria, the war and crippling humanitarian crisis in Yemen \u2014 all these regional problems can only be solved through peaceful, diplomatic solutions born out of multilateralism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAl-Hashimy said this opportunity to change the direction of the whole region and its myriad conflicts, especially between Israel and the Palestinians, was of central importance to the signing of the accords.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe UAE really wanted to look at a fresher and different way, and with a commitment to suspend annexation, we went ahead with our Israeli colleagues and signed off on a deal that we believe continues to put in place the importance of Palestinian statehood, but also doesn\u2019t create an impediment or obstacle to dialogue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019m very keen on trying to see a very different Middle East emerge and evolve. The conflict that has continued to percolate in the Arab and in the Muslim world is really something that we didn\u2019t want to continue to inherit. (We) wanted to try something different and try to actually see whether or not, through direct conversation, we could continue to advance the cause of the rightful statehood of both nations in a Middle East that\u00a0fights extremism and \u2026 believes in plurality,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGiven the UAE\u2019s commitment to advance the rights of different groupings and different orientations \u2026 this commitment to inclusivity has really been part and parcel of who we are as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMirvis said such an approach is essential to ensuring any peace agreement endures. \u201cI believe strongly that there can\u2019t be peace among the nations if there can\u2019t be peace among the faiths,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA lot has been spoken about in terms of the potential for fruitful bilateral relations, the potential in the dimensions of diplomacy, tourism, hi-tech and so on. But in addition, there\u2019s so much potential relating to Jewish-Muslim relations, and I believe the Abraham Accords have unlocked certain doors for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAl-Hashimy said those doors, including to regional development and progress through technology, education and other areas, are vital to facilitating that peace, and that cooperation with Israel will play a central role in creating opportunities for young people, enabling the Middle East to move away from extremism and old prejudices.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAs we continue to advance our own UAE national agenda, we\u2019re very much focused on new sectors of growth, and we believe there\u2019s great ingenuity in countries like Israel,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOur region has a lot of extremist language running through it. We want to be able to offer alternatives to that, and that\u2019s why the UAE was very focused on appointing a minister of youth a few years ago to \u2026 include youth in government policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nMirvis said though momentous, the accords are just the first step on the road to a total reset in regional relations.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWithin Jewish tradition and Jewish faith, nothing is more sacred than peace. When peace is established with a former foe or enemy, there can be nothing more sweet than that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe need to be patient. Relationships take time to build, create and nurture. Our relationships between our faith groups depend on interpersonal relationships. We need to go ahead with enthusiasm and with passion, but we also need to be realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON: The Abraham Accords, signed recently between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, could serve as a blueprint for resolving other conflicts in the Middle East, according to panelists at a discussion hosted by the Emirates Society and attended by Arab News. Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the UK, said the accords are \u201camong the most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}