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News ID: 106050
Publish Date : 22 August 2022 - 21:55

UAE to Return Ambassador to Iran in ‘Coming Days’

DUBAI (Dispatches) -- The United Arab Emirates says its ambassador to Iran, Saif Muhammad Al Zaabi, would return to Tehran “in coming days”, more than six years after the Persian Gulf Arab state downgraded ties with Tehran.
The announcement is in line with UAE’s efforts to strengthen relations with Iran “to achieve the common interests of the two countries and the wider region”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The UAE scaled back its ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions in Iran following Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shia scholar Nimr al-Nimr.
Last week, the Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers had a telephone conversation, UAE state media reported, where they discussed sending an ambassador back to Tehran.
Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir-Abdollahian discussed ways of “boosting bilateral relations and areas of cooperation for the benefit of both countries”, UAE’s state news agency WAM reported then.
After years of animosity, the UAE started re-engaging with Iran in 2019.
Last year, Saudi Arabia also moved to improve ties with Iran at a time when Persian Gulf Arab states are closely eyeing efforts to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers.
The UAE has business and trade ties with Iran stretching back more than a century, with the emirate of Dubai long being one of Iran’s main links to the outside world.
Fellow Persian Gulf state Kuwait earlier this month appointed its first ambassador to Iran since 2016.
Emirati officials have escalated efforts to boost trade relations with Iran.