DUBAI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, met with the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, in Abu Dhabi yesterday after weeks of tough words between Iran and the Gulf Arab states.
Also present at the Presidential Palace were Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Foreign Minister, reported the state news agency WAM.
The visit by Mr Salehi comes a week after similar trips to Qatar and Oman.
His government has criticised Gulf Arab states for backing Bahrain's clampdown on protests by its majority Shiite population. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia sent security forces to aid their Bahraini counterparts.
Last month Iran's chief of staff of the armed forces, Gen Hassan Firouzabadi, laid claim to the countries' shared body of water, saying: "The Persian Gulf has always, is and shall always belong to Iran". In response, Gulf Arab states condemned Iran's alleged meddling in Bahrain and other Gulf affairs. In mid-April they sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with evidence of Iranian interference, and called on the Security Council to put a stop to such actions.
"Iran should reconsider its policies in the region" and "respect the unity and sovereignty of Gulf countries," Sheikh Abdullah said in Abu Dhabi last month after a meeting between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"I'm trying to weigh up my words accurately because I don't want to act like some Iranian officials who throw words in a crude and inappropriate way," he said.
During a visit to Dubai also in April, Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, said: "We have never seen a sustained campaign from Iran on Bahrain and the Gulf like we've seen in the past two months."
The GCC is to meet in Riyadh tomorrow.
chuang@thenational.ae
'Midnights'
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
6am: Marathon Elites
7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
UAE'S%20YOUNG%20GUNS
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
