Iran is sending an ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time in seven years.
According to the Iranian state-run news agency IRNA on the 4th (local time), the Iranian Foreign Ministry has appointed Reza Amery as Iranian ambassador to the UAE.
Ameri’s new ambassador will serve not only Iranian ambassadors to the UAE, but also Iranian ambassadors to Algeria, Sudan and Eritrea. He served as Director of the Iranian Expatriate Office.
The UAE has kept its distance from Iran due to the severance of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
After Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Bakr al-Nimr in 2016, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, sparking a rift between the two countries.
The UAE, an ally of Saudi Arabia, also cut diplomatic ties with Iran, and Kuwait and Qatar, which had solidarity with Saudi Arabia, also recalled their ambassadors to Iran.
In particular, the UAE participated in the civil war in Yemen as an allied force along with Saudi Arabia, and was in a hostile relationship with Iran, which supported the rebels.
The reason why the Gulf countries and Iran entered the ‘thawing mood’ was when Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore relations through mediation by Iraq and China.
First of all, as talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran were held in 2021 through Iraq, there were signs of restoring relations between the Gulf countries and Iran. Kuwait decided to send an ambassador to Iran again in August of last year, and the UAE also decided to send an ambassador to Iran the following week.
Since then, Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to reactivate the Security Cooperation Agreement and Trade, Economy, and Investment Agreements signed in 2001 through Chinese mediation last month, and resume operations of embassies and missions.
At the time, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the agreement to normalize relations between the two countries, calling it an “important step toward stability and prosperity.”
In addition, China is known to be promoting a multilateral summit between the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Iran, so attention is focusing on whether the Gulf countries will enter a complete thawing mood.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.