The United Arab Emirates says its ambassador to Iran, Saif Mohammed Al Zaabi, would return to Tehran “in coming days”, more than six years after the Gulf Arab state downgraded ties with Tehran.

The announcement on Sunday, August 21, 2022, is in line with UAE’s efforts to strengthen relations with Iran “to achieve the common interests of the two countries and the wider region”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The UAE scaled back its ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions in Iran following Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shia scholar Nimr al-Nimr. 

Last week, the Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers had a telephone conversation and they discussed boosting ties, UAE state media reported, where they discussed sending an ambassador back to Tehran.

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed ways of “boosting bilateral relations and areas of cooperation for the benefit of both countries”, UAE’s state news agency WAM reported then.