STORY SUMMARY
United Arab Emirates’ minister of foreign affairs Abdullah bin Zayed, left, meets with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, at his office in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Nov. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Norooz
United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on a rare visit to Iran Thursday called for a partnership with Tehran, ahead of a planned visit by Iran’s Foreign Minister to Kuwait and Oman.
Improving relations with regional countries is a central plank of Iran’s diplomatic policy under its new president, Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who will visit Kuwait and Oman next week.
Rouhani and Zarif have stressed greater regional stability as a priority, arguably an attempt to blunt the opposition of Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, to Tehran’s newly minted nuclear deal with world powers.
After they met in Kuwait Wednesday, GCC foreign ministers said they hoped the deal would lead to a comprehensive solution to Iran’s nuclear crisis, but that this would require goodwill.
Bahrain’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa said Thursday Iran’s Arab neighbors needed assurances that the nuclear deal would enhance regional security.
Iran says it will make medical isotopes only.
The interim agreement between Iran and the powers is designed to halt any further advances in Iran’s nuclear campaign and buy time for talks on a final settlement of the decade-old dispute.
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Asia, Iran, United Arab Emirates