Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi has officially invited Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to visit the capital, Tehran, amid efforts to improve relations with neighbors and secure the region.
Iran’s ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Reza Ameri, handed over the official invitation to UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen al-Marar during a meeting with the Emirati diplomat on Wednesday.
Back in June, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian extended an invitation from President Raeisi for Sheikh Mohammed to visit Tehran, during his trip to the UAE to discuss bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation.
At the time, Sheikh Mohammed welcomed the invitation, while extending his invitation to President Raeisi to travel to the UAE.
In recent months, Iran and the UAE have intensified efforts to rebuild relations affected by the years-long war in Yemen and other regional issues.
Back in August, Raeisi said that the Islamic Republic is determined and open to the expansion of relations with the United Arab Emirates, stressing that Tehran sees no obstacles to the promotion of such ties, particularly trade and economic ones.
Abu Dhabi downgraded its relations with Tehran in 2016 after Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran. However, Iran and Saudi Arabia in March agreed to restore their diplomatic relations after a seven-year break based on a China-mediated agreement.
The UAE reinstated its ambassador to Iran last September while Iran appointed Ameri as its new ambassador to the UAE in April.
A huge re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf, the UAE has been a major supplier of goods and machinery to Iran since 2018 when Tehran came under a series of unilateral economic sanctions by the United States.
The UAE’s value of exports to Iran amounts to over $1.5 billion per month, according to figures by the Iranian customs office.