Iran, UAE discuss upgrading ties ahead of possible envoy return

Foreign ministers from Iran and the UAE held a telephone conversation yesterday to discuss boosting ties, according to the UAE’s WAM state media.

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 state news agency reported.

Sheikh Abdullah also “highlighted the UAE’s keenness…to enhance the security and stability of the region,” WAM added.

The Iranian 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.

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The talks are the latest steps to diplomatic relations being upgraded between Abu Dhabi and Tehran. Earlier this month, Emirati presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the UAE was considering sending an ambassador back to the Islamic Republic, amid calls for regional economic cooperation to reduce political tensions.

“Our conversation is ongoing … we are in the process of sending an ambassador to Tehran. All these areas of rebuilding bridges are ongoing,” Gargash was quoted as saying.

“The next decade cannot be like the last decade. It’s a decade where ‘de-escalation’ should be the keyword.”

Gargash also dismissed the notion of an “Arab NATO” aligned with Israel against Iran as a “theoretical” concept and that confrontation was not an option. “The UAE is not going to be a party to any group of countries that sees confrontation as a direction, but we do have serious issues with Iran with its regional politics,” he said.

The UAE downgraded diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2016 in solidarity with Saudi Arabia which severed ties with Iran after Iranian protesters stormed its diplomatic missions in the country in response to the controversial execution of outspoken Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr.

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