Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla is a UAE-based retired professor of political science. He is currently a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard University
August 24, 2022
The UAE has decided to restore full diplomatic relations with Iran, six years after Abu Dhabi downgraded ties with the country in 2016. This week, its ambassador, Saif Al Zaabi, will return to Tehran.
A lot has happened in the past six years. So what triggered this latest development? Why now? Is this in any way related to the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and major global powers? And who benefits the most from the resumption of relations between these two neighbours?
There is no single trigger. Essentially, the UAE move is the culmination of nearly four years of sustained and serious ongoing conversations on many levels between Abu Dhabi and Tehran, including five telephone calls between UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in the span of one year.
These high-level conversations started in early 2019, well before the latest round of Iran nuclear talks and the election of US President Joe Biden. The UAE was the one who initiated the contact and decided its pace based on reactions from Iran and the latter’s willingness to reciprocate these neighbourly gestures. The principle aim of these conversations was, and still is, to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries and reduce regional tensions at large.
Therefore, the decision is mostly UAE-driven and regionally induced, rather than American-driven. It has little to do with the progress or lack of progress in seemingly never-ending nuclear talks.
Sending the UAE Ambassador back to Iran is consistent with recent UAE initiatives to engage regional adversaries
It is worth noting that, in 2016, nearly all Gulf states broke relations with Tehran. The UAE, however, decided to reduce its diplomatic presence there and not to totally terminate the relationship. The reduction of diplomatic relations was a legitimate response to the attacks in 2016 on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. Mobs stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran as well as the consulate in Mashhad and ransacked them. The embassy building was set on fire with Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs. This was a severe breach of diplomatic protocol by Iran, warranting an angry response and immediate consequences for the status of diplomatic relations.
However, since then, Gulf capitals, including Riyadh, started to engage with Tehran slowly, especially the new administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The conversation between between Abu Dhabi and Tehran touched on many issues both bilateral and multilateral. Needless to say, some have been more successful than others.
Now, the conversation with Iran includes all six Gulf states. There is a GCC-wide consensus to reach out to Iran and engage with it in the hope that it responds in kind this time around – especially as it claims it is eager to sign a new nuclear agreement.
The nuclear talks are one way to reduce tensions in the region. However, they will not stop Iran’s ultimate drive to develop its own nuclear weapons one day. Nonetheless, with or without a nuclear deal, the fact of the matter is that Iran has always been among the biggest threats to Gulf security, and remains so today. The threat is only growing, thanks to its missiles and drone capabilities.
So, short of confronting Iran, it is wiser to reach out to Mr Raisi. One way to deal with Iran is to continue the conversation and find common ground for good neighbourly relations. The ball is in Iran’s court. The UAE is testing Iran’s intentions and closely monitoring its behaviour. It has high expectations that Iran will reduce its threatening rhetoric, stop its provocative moves around maritime borders, reconsider its arming of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen and ultimately resolve its 50-year-old occupation of three UAE islands.
Shopkeepers roll a carpet at the Dubai Mall. Carpets from around the world, including Iran, are sold in the UAE Pawan Singh / The National
Politics aside, UAE-Iran relations are highly diversified. They are deep and multifaceted. The strongest leg has always been trade between the two countries, which is more than a century old. In fact, Iran is among the UAE’s top trade partners.
Even during the worst political tensions between the two countries, trade was uninterrupted. It went down, but never stopped. At its lowest point in decades, it still reached $11 billion in the year 2017. Now, it is back to its pre-2016 level.
The restoration of the UAE-Iran diplomatic relationship, as well as the possible signing of a nuclear deal, the lessening of regional tensions and, of course, the success of ongoing dialogue between the Gulf capitals and Tehran is all expected to increase trade volume between the UAE and Iran to more than $20bn annually.
Sending the UAE ambassador back to Iran is consistent with recent UAE initiatives to engage regional adversaries. It will certainly open a new chapter in UAE-Iran relations, and it is a sign that the two countries are heading back to business as usual. Needless to say, it is mutually beneficial.
Iran will certainly benefit politically and economically. But financially, commercially and diplomatically, the UAE will also benefit. And the region will gain from any reduction in tensions. This is about key regional powers, not superpowers, wanting a new Middle East order of their making.
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
