Iranian President Mohammed Khatami received on Monday in Tehran Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
During the meeting, Sheikh Hamdan delivered a written message from President Sheikh Zayed to Khatami, dealing with “relations between the two states and the latest developments in the region,” the official WAM news agency reported.
The message also includes an invitation to Khatami to visit the UAE. The Iranian president accepted the invitation and promised to honour it at the earliest possible time.
Khatami also called for boosting relations between the two states.
However, there has been a dispute between the two states over the Iranian occupation of three small UAE islands: Abu Moussa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs since early 1970s.
The position of the UAE has been that the matter should be resolved through negotiations, if not between both parties, then through arbitration in the international courts. Iran objects to this line of procedure, preferring instead to have an agenda accepting the status quo before negotiations. (Albawaba.com)
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