Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday concluded a three-day tour of Gulf Arab neighbors with a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he held talks with the country’s president, AFP reported.
Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to the UAE followed stops in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, the latest in a flurry of diplomatic moves by Tehran.
On Thursday, he discussed “bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation” in a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, the official WAM news agency reported.
He later met with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, who emphasized “the significance of establishing an international approach to multilateral action based on cooperation and partnership,” WAM said.
During the visit, Iran and the UAE also signed an agreement to expand air transport services between the two countries and increase trade and tourism opportunities, it added.
Gulf Arab countries have been seeking to ease tensions with Iran. This process began when Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed, in a China-brokered deal, to reopen their embassies and missions and implement security and economic cooperation deals signed more than 20 years ago.
Iran”s Foreign Ministry officially announced earlier this month it would reopen its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the agreement.
Iran’s nuclear activities are also an issue of mutual concern, as Tehran seeks to revive the 2015 deal with major powers, from which then-US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
Iran”s Foreign Ministry recently confirmed reports of indirect talks with the US in Oman, but denied it was interested an interim deal with Washington.
A US official then said that the United States and Iran are not discussing an interim nuclear deal, and that Washington had merely conveyed to Tehran what steps might trigger a crisis and also those that may create a better climate between the long-time antagonists.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected reports that Washington and Tehran were close to deals on limiting Iran’s nuclear program and releasing US citizens detained in the country.
“With regard to Iran, some of the reports that we’ve seen about an agreement on nuclear matters or, for that matter, on detainees, are simply not accurate and not true,” Blinken said when asked about indirect talks via Oman.