Lahore - A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan met with Iranian leadership in bid to defuse tensions between brotherly Muslim states of Iran and Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reported on Monday that the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates also has been visiting Tehran on a ‘secret mission’ to ease the crisis in the Gulf.
Quoting a senior security source in the UAE, the website of the Qatar TV channel said that the visit of Tahnoun bin Zayed, who is also the younger brother of Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed, marks the highest-level meeting between Abu Dhabi and Tehran after four tankers off the Emirati port of Fujairah were attacked in May.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated that Pakistan is ready to act as a facilitator between the two brotherly Muslims countries to sort out their differences through dialogue.
Addressing a joint press stakeout along with President Rouhani, the prime minister said: “In the past, Pakistan hosted Saudi Arabia and Iran and is again willing to facilitate the brotherly countries to iron out their differences.”
Senior UAE official in Iran on ‘secret mission’ to ease situation in Gulf
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday said that finding a solution to the conflict in Yemen could help reduce tensions in the region, which could be further resolved through diplomacy.
“Ending the war in Yemen will pave the ground for de-escalation in the region … we want peace and calm in the region … regional crisis can be resolved through diplomacy and co-operation between the regional countries,” Rouhani told a news conference, broadcast live on state TV.
He added that relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, had improved in the past months and “officials have visited each other’s countries”.
The US military accused Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on the tankers. Washington has labelled the IRGC a “terror” group.
However, the UAE itself never publicly blamed Iran.
Last month, Abu Dhabi welcomed an initiative by European leaders to ease tension with Iran and open a diplomatic path.
“With persistence, the E3 [Britain, France and Germany] can open up a new channel of communication and establish greater trust,” UAE foreign affairs minister Anwar Gargash wrote in the Financial Times.
“The UAE, Iran and other states can share the Gulf as normal neighbours, if not as the best of friends.”
Zayed’s mission comes amid a number of back channel efforts to facilitate a dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
An official in the Iraqi prime minister’s office, Abbas al-Hasnawi, confirmed that Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was mediating between Riyadh and Tehran.
Pakistani Premier Imran Khan met Iranian top leadership on Monday in the first leg of his tour that also included a stop in Saudi Arabia.
“The reason for this trip is that we do not want a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” he told reporters as he stood alongside Rouhani.
Emphasising the visit to the two countries was Pakistan’s “initiative”, he said: “We recognise that it’s a complex issue … but we feel that this can be resolved through dialogue. But what should never happen, is war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
On Sunday, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said that Riyadh had not asked Islamabad to mediate.
