Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two countries which have long operated on opposing sides of the region’s “cold war”, have started to thaw their relations, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister after his visit Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates.
Ali Bagheri Kani, the Iranian diplomat who also oversees Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, met with UAE Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen and his predecessor in this office, Anwar Gargesh. Emirati state-run media WAM called the meeting amicable, saying the Emirati and Iranian leaders “stressed the importance of strengthening relations on the basis of good neighborliness and mutual respect.”
At the end of the meeting, the Iranian diplomat took to twitter to praise it, saying the two sides had “agreed to open a new chapter” in their often strained relationship.
The two countries have clashed in various regional conflicts, supporting opposing sides in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars. Iran has also strongly criticized the Abraham Accords, the peace deal brokered by the United States that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
Despite their differences, Iran and the United Arab Emirates have maintained diplomatic relations even after their ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia were severed in January 2016. Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi advocated multilateral “collective diplomacy”. between states in the Middle East and the Gulf aimed at defusing ongoing tensions.
Kani’s trip to the United Arab Emirates was made in preparation for Iran’s re-entry into nuclear negotiations with the United States and other P5 + 1 members on November 29. The negotiations aim to restore the precedent set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which lifted most sanctions against Iran in exchange for severe restrictions on its nuclear program.
In 2018, the United Arab Emirates supported the decision of then-President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA, saying the deal allowed Iran to continue developing ballistic missiles and funding its regional proxy groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Under President Joe Biden, the United States pushed all parties to return to the deal, and Iranian Special Envoy Rob Malley visited various countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, to assure regional partners that the Biden administration remains committed to regional security as negotiations loom.
Trevor Filseth is a news and foreign affairs writer for the National interest.
Image: Reuters
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