Amirabdollahian said he discussed a regional dialogue forum proposed by the UN, in addition to trade and investment prospects.
Tehran, Iran — Iran has promoted a regional forum for dialogue and cooperation during a four-country tour by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian as he met with senior officials from neighboring Arab countries.
Amirabdollahian visited Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between June 19 and Thursday afternoon.
Iran’s top diplomat welcomed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ proposal to convene an eight-nation regional forum in New York in September.
The forum would include Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain and is expected to continue its work beyond the UN General Assembly meeting , Amirabdollahian suggested.
“We agreed with senior officials and my counterparts in the four countries to take the Secretary-General’s initiative as a good omen and to take more effective measures to follow up on initiatives under this new framework.”
Still under tough US sanctions imposed since 2018 after Washington unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Tehran has pursued a policy of improving ties, especially economic relations , throughout the region.
In Doha, Amirabdollahian met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, while in Muscat he sat down with Mohammed Abdulsalam, the movement’s chief negotiator Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in Iran. embassy
A truce and compromise is underway with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government following a rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh following a Chinese-brokered deal in March that saw the two regional heavyweights they re-establish diplomatic relations after seven years.
Trade and investments were a key focus of Amirabdollahian as a way to strengthen bilateral ties and security across the region when he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Tehran , last week, as their longtime rivals seek to end a diplomatic rift.
Amirabdollahian held talks with his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.
In Kuwait, he met with Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who formed a cabinet earlier this week after being reinstated as prime minister.
For the last leg of his trip, Amirabdollahian visited Abu Dhabi and met with his counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also known as MBZ.
Amirabdollahian invited the president, who is the ruler of Abu Dhabi, to visit Tehran. MBZ reportedly invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to his country.
Sheikh Abdullah, the UAE foreign minister, drove the Iranian diplomat in his private vehicle, images of which were widely shared by Iranian media who described it as a “friendly and intimate” gesture.
Iran’s top diplomat sought to improve dialogue and investment and trade ties during his trip, including in the UAE [Handout via the Iranian foreign ministry]
At each stop, Amirabdollahian emphasized the improvement of bilateral economic and trade relations, in addition to building dialogue.
The regional tour also came as Iran and the United States have been holding indirect talks, which have long been brokered by Oman and Qatar, in an effort to control tensions amid fading hopes of restoring fully the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). , as the nuclear deal is formally known.
Tehran and Washington have refrained from commenting on the details, but reports indicate they may reach an agreement rather than a major signed deal.
Iran maintains that its nuclear efforts are peaceful and that could include a deal on its nuclear advances as well as unfreezing billions of dollars of Iranian money locked up abroad to facilitate a prisoner swap with the US.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, was in Doha this week and met with the European Union’s high representative for nuclear talks, Enrique Mora. Bagheri said the talks were “serious and constructive”.
Bagheri earlier announced that he had a meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the three European powers party to the JCPOA, in Abu Dhabi, indicating that the UAE may also be considering a new mediating role between Tehran and the West.
