"The UAE condemns assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and (calls) on all parties to exercise self-restraint to avoid dragging region into new levels of instability and threat to peace," the foreign ministry tweeted.

It described Fakhrizadeh's killing as an "heinous crime".

Fakhrizadeh, dubbed by Israel as the "father" of Iran's nuclear programme, was fatally wounded Friday when assailants targeted his car and engaged in a gunfight with his bodyguards outside Tehran, according to Iran's defence ministry.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stressed the country will seek its revenge in "due time" and not be rushed into a "trap".

He pinned the blame on "the wicked hands of the global arrogance, with the usurper Zionist regime as the mercenary". Iran generally uses the term "global arrogance" to refer to the US.

The strongly-worded UAE condemnation comes weeks after the Gulf nation normalised ties with Israel.