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UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash denied on Thursday that his country was targeting "friendly countries" or US citizens in an e-espionage program.

The Reuters investigation published on Wednesday that the UAE had used a group of US contractors in the intelligence field to help with cyber infiltration to target rival governments, dissidents and rights activists. The contractors, former intelligence officers, formed the main side of a spy program called the "Project Raven".

Former officers and program documents seen by Reuters said the project also targeted Americans and iPhone phones for embassy staff from France, Australia and Britain.

Apple declined to comment and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

When journalists asked Gargash in a New York statement about the project, he acknowledged that his country had "electronic capability" but denied targeting US citizens or countries with which his country had good relations.

The UAE minister added
We live in a very difficult part of the world. We have to protect ourselves. We do not target friendly countries and we do not target American citizens

The French and UK embassies in Washington refused to comment. A spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment. The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment.