They kept in the hunt for the remaining automatic spot after Ali Karimi’s fine individual goal early in the second-half saw them pick up only their second win in Group B.
"I promise you that you will see us in South Africa," an ever-confident Ghotbi said to reporters after the match.
"I congratulate the people of Iran for their support. The World Cup is for all the people and their support motivated us."
With most Iranians focussed on Friday's Presidential elections, the match was played at a half-full Azadi Stadium.
Ghotbi saw Iran score their first goal in a competitive match under his charge when Karimi rolled back the years to dribble past three UAE defenders to score his 36th international goal eight minutes into the second-half.
"We controlled the match today and we had a lot of chances but the United Arab Emirates closed the game down and didn't let us play,” said Ghotbi.
Iran stay fourth in the group but are now just a point behind Saudi Arabia and DPR Korea who face each other in Riyadh next Wednesday.
A win for Iran against group winners Korea Republic in Seoul on the same day will assure them of at least third spot and a play-off spot.
But Ghotbi, who was one of Guus Hiddink's assistants with the Koreans during the 2002 World Cup, sounded a note of caution to anyone who thinks that Korea Republic's qualification will see them take their foot off the gas.
"I know South Korea well and I know their players - we were in a World Cup together,” he said.
“But I don't accept that they'll lack motivation. Every team in the world has motivation, just like the Emirates did today."
It was Dominique Bathenay's last match in charge of the UAE, who finished bottom of the group with a single point from eight matches.
"We knew that we would have a difficult match against Iran, especially because we were without our best players like Ismail Matar," said the Frenchman.
"But we still played well in the first-half.
"We were motivated because we were playing an international match. If we didn't have motivation we would have lost by more goals."