TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's foreign minister said Monday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cannot become more secure through a recent normalization deal with Israel, Press TV reported.

"The UAE has turned to Israel to buy security, while Israel is unable to keep even itself secure," Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying.

"You cannot be secure if your neighbors are not secure," Zarif said, adding that the security of the region should be achieved through close work of the regional states.

Cooperation among regional players would lay a suitable ground for enhanced trade ties and political interaction in the region, which can then be expanded to relations with countries outside the region, he pointed out.

Iran has strongly condemned recent agreement between Israel and the UAE to normalize ties.

On Aug. 13, Israel and the UAE reached an agreement, brokered by the U.S., to work towards a "full normalization of relations."