UAE stressed on the importance of creating specialised working groups in order to accurately determine the areas of possible cooperation between both countries, and to eliminate the obstacles ahead…reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
The top national security officials of Iran and the UAE met in Tehran on Monday, and voiced the two countries’ interest in further developing ties after years of tensions, the official news agency IRNA reported.
“Stability and lasting security will only be established through continuous dialogue and cooperation between the countries of the region,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said while meeting with the UAE’s National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The most important priority in Iran’s foreign policy, he added, is maintaining “warm and friendly” relations with its neighbours and developing exchanges with them on the basis of each other’s economic, trade and investment capacities, Xinhua news agency reported.
Ties between neighbouring countries should not be affected by the “interventionist policies” of countries beyond the region, the Iranian official said.
By joining efforts, Shamkhani also said, Gulf countries can play an important role in the regional and world economy as an energy hub while creating development and prosperity for their people.
The head of Iran’s SNSC voiced hope that the presence in Iran of his UAE counterpart will open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries and pave the way for the consolidation and comprehensive expansion of bilateral ties.
For his part, Sheikh Tahnoun said he was happy to be in Iran and added that the development of warm and fraternal relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran is one of the UAE’s priorities.
As reported by IRNA, the UAE official praised the potential of exchanges between Iran and the UAE in the fields of transit, energy, transportation, healthcare and investment.
It is necessary to create specialized working groups in order to accurately determine the areas of possible cooperation, and also to identify and eliminate the obstacles ahead, Sheikh Tahnoun said.
Later his one-day visit to Tehran, the UAE official has met with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.
During the meeting, which took place in Tehran, the two sides discussed prospects of consolidating bilateral ties and explored an array of issues of common interest, Emirates News Agency, WAM, reported.
Sheikh Tahnoun conveyed to the Iranian President the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and their wishes of further wellbeing, prosperity and development for Iran and its people, the WAM reported.
Meanwhile, the new round of Vienna talks, aimed at the restoration of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, is likely to see “more flexibility” from the involved parties, a top official said.
After six months of hiatus in the talks, Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, with the indirect involvement of the US, resumed their discussions to restore the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on November 29.
On December 3, diplomats from the European side of negotiations returned to their home countries for consultations on two proposals put forward by Iran, which reportedly insist on the priority of removal of all sanctions, which were imposed against Tehran by the administration of former US President Donald Trump after he withdrew from the deal in 2018.
The Iranian negotiation team has also announced that it has prepared a third document expounding on verification of lifting sanctions and the Islamic Republic’s demands for the US guarantee that the next administration would not abandon the deal again.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the UAE has strongly condemned the Houthi terrorist militias’ attempts to target civilians and civil sites in Saudi Arabia’s southern region with explosive-laden drones, which were intercepted and destroyed by the Coalition Forces.
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In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), the UAE said recurrent terrorist attacks by the Houthi militia reflect its blatant disregard for the international community and all international laws and norms.
The Ministry also urged the international community to take an immediate and decisive stance to stop these recurrent acts, which target critical infrastructure and threaten the security and stability of the Kingdom, as well as global energy supplies, stressing that the continued threat of these attacks in recent days is a grave escalation that represents new evidence of this militia’s attempts to undermine security and stability in the region.
“The security of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is indivisible, and any threat facing the Kingdom is considered a threat to the UAE’s security and stability,” the Ministry concluded.
