Tehran, Iran – Iran has selected a new representative to serve as its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, only a few days before the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia are scheduled to meet in China. After an absence of more than seven years, Iran’s state-run media on Tuesday revealed that the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has chosen Reza Ameri to serve as the next Envoy to the United Arab Emirates. According to reports, Ameri served as both the head of the office for expatriates at the foreign ministry and as an ambassador to Algeria, Sudan, and Eritrea in the past.
After demonstrators attacked Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions in 2016 in response to the execution of a prominent Shia leader by the Sunni-majority kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has a long history of economic ties with Iran, downgraded its diplomatic relations with Tehran. This came after Saudi Arabia closed its diplomatic missions in Iran. Yet, the Saudi ally has been expanding its level of engagement with Iran over the course of the previous several years and nominated an ambassador to Tehran only the year before. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, are scheduled to meet in Beijing on Thursday. The move by Tehran to designate a UAE envoy occurred two days before this meeting was scheduled to take place. In line with a trilateral agreement that was made with China in Beijing at the beginning of this month, it is anticipated that the two will shortly address the actual actions that need to be taken in order to reopen their diplomatic posts.
Around this time, the office of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has announced that he has accepted an offer to make a state visit to Saudi Arabia. The exact date of this travel has not yet been determined. The previous week, Amirabdollahian revealed to reporter that Iran had intentions to send an invitation to the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. Iran is also engaged in efforts to improve relations with other Arab nations of the region, which have in turn been open to diplomatically engaging with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Tehran. These efforts are being made in response to Iran’s efforts to improve relations with other Arab nations of the region.
