DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates is considering sending an ambassador to Iran, a senior official said Friday, six years after a downgrade in ties, reports AFP.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash also called for regional economic cooperation as a means of easing political tensions.
With Middle East political alignments shifting, the UAE's talk of strengthening Iran ties comes alongside Iraqi efforts to mediate between the Emirates' neighbour Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Riyadh and Tehran have had no diplomatic ties for six years, since Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Riyadh responded by cutting relations with Tehran, while the UAE reduced its ties to the Islamic republic, without severing relations.
Iran and the Emirates have been on opposite sides of the war in Yemen, where the UAE supports and trains forces as part of a Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
A cross-border drone attack by the Yemeni rebels killed three oil workers in Abu Dhabi in January.
The UAE is not part of any axis against Iran, Gargash said, urging economic cooperation in various areas in order to create a greater political de-escalation.
Oil-rich UAE has previously said that Arab Gulf states should take part in collective diplomacy to reach an agreement with Iran, whose talks with Western powers over a faltering 2015 nuclear agreement have been stalled since March.
Israel and the United States on Thursday signed a new security pact reinforcing their common front against Iran, during a visit to the Jewish state by US President Joe Biden.
Biden vowed to use all American power to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies seeking.
In 2020 the Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel, a move which Tehran condemned.
Still, in July last year UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Iranian charge d'affaires Sayed Mohammad Hosseini to look at ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation.
