Top UAE security official visit Tehran today
The United Arab Emirates' top national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan will visit Tehran on Monday to discuss ways to expand bilateral ties.
The visit comes a week after negotiations between Iran and major powers resumed in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), lift US sanctions on Iran and put a stop to escalations in Tehran's nuclear program.
Reports have indicated that the UAE might be hedging its bets given a desire by the Biden Administration to revive the JCPOA and by the US exit from Afghanistan. The general perception is that Washington has shifted its focus to China and East Asia.
Sheikh Tahnoon is expected to meet his counterpart, the Supreme National Security Council's Secretary General Ali Shamkhani.
Sheikh Tahnoon is a brother of the country’s de facto ruler Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said last month that his country was "taking steps to de-escalate tensions with Iran as part of a policy choice towards diplomacy and away from confrontation."
The Emirati diplomat said the UAE remained deeply concerned about Iran's behavior in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon.
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