Abdullah attends joint ministerial panel meet in Tehran

Tehran: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, praised on Tuesday relations between the UAE and Iran as "ancient" and "historic" and based on mutual respect, good neighbourliness and joint cooperation for maintaining security and stability of the Gulf region under the wise leadership of the two friendly countries.

"The rapid events sweeping the world at present and overshadowing the region require more consultations and coordination to address these changes. Our reciprocal visits have produced positive results for enhancing bilateral bonds and concluding a number of memorandums of understanding," Shaikh Abdullah told the concluding sitting of the first meeting of the Emirati-Iranian joint ministerial committee which was hosted by Tehran.

Shaikh Abdullah said the UAE was looking forward for more agreements and MoUs in future.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is a full-fledged trade partner to the UAE as
two-way trade exchange reached more than $7 billion. The convening of the joint ministerial committee underlines the specialty of the bilateral relations, bolsters joint cooperation and opens up new horizons for bilateral cooperation," the UAE minister added.

He stressed the importance of reinforcing MoUs signed between the two countries on transport, and combating of drugs and crime.

For his part, Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian Foreign Minister, said the meeting had provided an opportunity to discuss avenues of joint cooperation in areas of trade, economy, investment and tourism.

"The first meeting of the joint ministerial committee was one of the gains achieved by the visit made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UAE in 2007. Time is now ripe for achieving joint successes and translating what has been agreed up into a tangible reality," he said.

Later, Shaikh Abdullah and his Iranian counterpart signed the minutes of meetings of the committee.

Emirati and Iranian ministers of justice signed three agreements on extradition of criminals, judicial mutual assistance on criminal matters and judicial mutual assistance on civilian and commercial matters.

Another agreement on technical cooperation and understanding was signed between the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology and Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran.