Iran, UAE FMs meet in New York, trade ties high on agenda

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York.

During the meeting, Amirabdollahian thanked his Emirati counterpart for his warm hospitality and the very good talks during his recent trip to the UAE, and said, “We are witnessing rapid changes in the region and it is necessary to implement the bilateral deals between the two countries at the same pace.

Amirabdollahian said he was satisfied with the high volume of trade exchanges between the two countries, noting that in his meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi they jointly emphasized achieving a higher ceiling for commercial ties, as well as the necessity to prepare for the next session of the joint cooperation commission between Iran and the UAE.

The Iranian foreign minister also renewed the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, as well as the invitation to his UAE counterpart to visit Iran.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed while expressing his satisfaction with the meeting and voicing gratitude for the invitation, announced his willingness to visit Iran in the near future. He added it was necessary to make the preparations for the UAE president’s visit to Iran.

The UAE foreign minister also announced his country’s readiness to hold the next meeting of the joint commission of the two countries and said, “We are waiting for the finalization of the proposed date.

He also stressed that an agreement should be signed to avoid double taxation in order to help boost trade between the two countries.

The two sides also discussed some other areas of cooperation between the two countries during the meeting, including consular cooperation.