The Iranian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has rejected outright any role in the alleged killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, who went missing in the Persian Gulf country several days ago.
The diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi told Reuters news agency that it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual.”
The body of the 28-year-old Zvi Kogan, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing in Dubai on Thursday afternoon, was found dead on Sunday.
His corpse was discovered in the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, though it was not clear if he was killed there or elsewhere. It was believed Kogan had last been seen at a Kosher supermarket in Dubai.
But certain Western media outlets and the Zionist regime missed no time to accuse Iran of being behind the murder without providing any evidence even prior to the launch of an investigation by Emirati authorities.
The UAE’s Interior Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday night that three suspects involved in Kogan’s murder have been arrested.
The ministry statement did not give details on the suspects or whether they had been charged, but said all legal powers would be used “to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability.”
The UAE authorities stated that after Kogan’s family reported him missing, an investigation team was formed, leading to the discovery of his body and the identification and arrest of the suspected perpetrators.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has denounced the killing of the rabbi as a “heinous anti-Semitic terrorist act” and said Israel would do everything it could to bring those responsible to justice.
The UAE, along with Bahrain, signed normalization pacts with the Israeli regime during an official ceremony hosted by former US president Donald Trump at the White House in September 2020. Palestinians slammed the deals as a treacherous “stab in the back” of their cause against the Israeli occupation.