ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Abu Dhabi late Wednesday denied that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited the UAE for a secret wartime meeting with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, describing statements by the Israeli premier’s office as “entirely unfounded.” 

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed the premier met “secretly” with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the Emirates during the US-Israeli war on Iran that erupted in late February.

“This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.

The statement was followed by an immediate Iranian response, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying that "those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account." 

The UAE’s foreign ministry denied Netanyahu's statement, saying, “Any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE.” 

“The UAE reaffirms that its relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial agreements,” the ministry asserted.

The UAE and Israel normalized their relationship as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords, signed during US President Donald Trump’s first term, and their defense partnership has deepened since.

The developments have made Abu Dhabi one of the West’s and its allies' most operationally valuable Arab partners.

Throughout the recent regional conflict, the UAE was targeted by Tehran more than any other regional state, including Israel, with Iran regularly citing Abu Dhabi’s cooperation with Israel as justification.

Information regarding the secret visit was “conveyed to our leadership” by Tehran’s security services long ago, Araghchi said in a post on X.

“Enmity with the Great People of Iran is a foolish gamble. Collusion with Israel in doing so: unforgivable,” he added.

The UAE is now classified as hosting “hostile bases” under the Islamic Republic’s security doctrine, Iranian lawmaker Ali Khezrian said earlier in May, adding that the same designation applies to the Kurdistan Region.

In Iranian defense doctrine, such a designation allows Tehran to conduct preemptive strikes on actors that could pose a threat to its security, generally encompassing foreign military facilities and, in the Kurdish case, dissident armed groups.