Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, held talks with Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Abu Dhabi on Monday aimed at bolstering ties between the nations and supporting efforts to maintain regional stability.
Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Araghchi discussed the importance of talks between the US and Iran in strengthening security and preserving international peace.
The US and Iran were involved in a fourth round of indirect negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme in Oman on Sunday, which were described as “difficult but useful” by Iran's Foreign Ministry and “encouraging” by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Washington has insisted that Iran stop enrichment to prevent it developing nuclear weapons grade uranium, while Iran has stressed it has no such aim and does not intend to end its programme.
The discussions are the highest-level contact between the two countries since Washington withdrew in 2018 from a deal that sought to regulate Iran's nuclear activities.
The Iranian minister's visit to the Emirates came a day before the start of US President Donald Trump's four-day visit to the Gulf, which begins in Riyadh on Tuesday and will also take in Qatar and the UAE.
Mr Trump wants to advance talks that would curb Iran's nuclear programme.
Striking a friendlier tone than in past comments, he said Tehran was “very reasonable” in the negotiations.
“We want Iran to be wealthy and wonderful and happy and great, but they can't have nuclear weapons, very simple,” he said.
Sheikh Abdullah and his Iranian counterpart also reviewed bilateral ties and ways to deepen ties between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by Khalifa Al Marar, Minister of State, and Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs.
Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, spoke in March of the need for the UAE and other Arab states to seek common ground with Iran.
“From a 'glass half full' perspective, we can see that the areas of co-operation are way bigger than the areas of disagreement with Iran,” Dr Gargash told the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. “This is part of our dialogue with Tehran. We understand there are certain issues where we don’t see eye-to-eye but there are many more where we do. Let’s work on these areas.”
He noted that Iran’s policy shift towards creating strong regional relations is an encouraging development. “We must respect Iran’s decisions that are sovereign,” he said in the Indian capital. “At the same time, we believe that by creating the right environment, that in itself builds more confidence.”
