The United Arab Emirates' foreign ministry summoned the Lebanese ambassador to the country and handed him an official protest note denouncing comments by Lebanon's foreign minister it said were "inconsistent with diplomatic norms", UAE state news agency (WAM) said on Tuesday.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has strongly decried the derogatory and racist statements made by caretaker Lebanese Foreign Minister, Charbel Wehbe, against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states," WAM reported.
Wehbe appeared to blame Gulf nations for the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and neighboring Syria in a television interview on Monday.