TEHRAN — Iran said Monday it hopes to expand
ties with the UAE after
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was elected
president of the Gulf country following his half-brother's death.
اضافة اعلان
The two countries downgraded diplomatic
relations in 2016 following the severance of ties between Iran and Gulf Arab
heavyweight Saudi Arabia, a key ally of the Emirates.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday
congratulated Sheikh Mohamed on his election as president of the UAE, according
to a presidency statement.
Raisi "expressed hope that the
foundation of the development and progress of relations between the two
countries… which was laid during the time of late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-
Nahyan, will be expanded with wisdom and in line with the interests of the two
countries", it said.
He said he hoped to see "increased
deepening of mutual relations in all fields" between the two countries,
the statement read.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian left
Tehran for Abu Dhabi on Monday morning to offer
condolences over the late Emirati president's death, according to the ministry.
The Iranian president had on Saturday also
sent a message of condolences to the UAE on the death of Sheikh Khalifa.
Sheikh Mohamed has run the oil-rich Gulf
state from behind the scenes since his half-brother was sidelined by ill health
in 2014.
Under his leadership, Abu Dhabi has fostered
trade and political ties across the region — including, to a limited extent,
with Iran — but has sided with the US against Tehran's nuclear program.
The UAE forged ties with Iran's arch-enemy
Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, brokered by former US president
Donald Trump.
Iran has said that Arab countries that normalize
ties with Israel are stabbing Palestinians in the back.
Shiite-majority
Iran and Sunni-majority UAE
moreover support rival sides in Yemen's seven-year civil war, with Abu Dhabi
having been part of the Saudi-led military coalition that supports the
internationally recognized government and Tehran backing the Houthi rebels.
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