DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers have
held a telephone conversation and discussed boosting ties, UAE state media
reported Wednesday, as the
Gulf Arab country considers sending an ambassador
back to Tehran.
اضافة اعلان
Emirati Foreign Minister
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed ways
of “boosting bilateral relations and areas of cooperation for the benefit of
both countries”, the UAE’s state news agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Abdullah “highlighted the UAE’s keenness ...
to enhance the security and stability of the region”, WAM added.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Amir-Abdollahian
“welcomed the enhancement of the level of ties between the two countries” as
“an important step in the process of developing bilateral relations”, in a
statement late Tuesday.
It said the Iranian minister also spoke separately
with his Omani and Kuwaiti counterparts on Tuesday night.
The UAE scaled back its ties with the Islamic republic
in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran
following Riyadh’s execution of Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr Al-Nimr.
Earlier this month, UAE presidential adviser
Anwar Gargash said his country was considering sending an ambassador back to Iran and
called for regional economic cooperation to help ease political tensions.
“The next decade cannot be like the last decade.
It’s a decade where ‘de-escalation’ should be the key word,” he had said.
His comments came after Israel and the US signed a
new security pact reinforcing their common front against Iran, during a visit
to the Jewish state by US President Joe Biden.
The UAE’s talk of strengthening Iran ties comes
alongside Iraqi efforts to mediate between Emirati ally Riyadh, and Tehran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have had no diplomatic ties
since the 2016 attacks on the kingdom’s diplomatic missions in the Islamic
republic, while Kuwait also downgraded relations with Tehran.
An Iranian diplomat told a Kuwaiti newspaper earlier
this week that a Kuwaiti ambassador would arrive in Tehran “in the next few
days”, but authorities in the Gulf emirate have yet to announce such a move.
The oil-rich UAE has previously said that
Arab Gulf states should take part in “collective diplomacy” to reach an agreement with
Iran, whose talks with Western powers over a faltering 2015 nuclear agreement
have been stalled since March.
In 2020, the UAE established diplomatic relations
with Israel, a move which Tehran condemned.
Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday described Israel’s presence in
the region as a cause of “instability and insecurity”, Iran’s foreign ministry
said.
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