TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on a tour of Gulf states, will visit the United Arab Emirates today, he wrote on his Facebook page.
“Following the visit last week of the UAE’s foreign minister to Tehran, tomorrow I will go to the Emirates and will have meetings with the high-ranking officials ... in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” Zarif said in his post. Zarif has since Sunday been on a tour of Kuwait, Oman and Qatar trying to persuade the Gulf states that a deal between Iran and Western powers on Tehran’s nuclear programme will enhance regional stability. The Emirates, which hosts a major Iranian expatriate community, was the first among Gulf nations to welcome the landmark deal clinched in Geneva on November 24.
Also likely to be discussed during Zarif’s visit is the touchy issue of the sovereignty of Abu Musa and two other islands in the southern Gulf. The three islands are under Iranian control but are claimed by the UAE.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, meanwhile, said that a visit by Zarif to Saudi Arabia, at odds with Iran over several issues including Tehran’s support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, was “on the agenda” and would happen at “the right time”.
Zarif also wrote in his Facebook post that he was ready for negotiations with Saudi Arabia whenever Riyadh was ready and added that talks would be “beneficial for both countries, the region and the Muslim world”.
After his visit to the UAE, Zarif is due to return to Tehran to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who is due to start a two-day visit to Iran today.
UK envoy in Tehran
LONDON: Britain’s new envoy to Tehran visited Iran yesterday, becoming the first British diplomat to travel to the country since ties were severed in 2011, the Foreign Office in London said. “I had a good first visit back to Tehran today,” said Ajay Sharma, who is making his first trip in his new role as non-resident charge d’affaires.AFP
