Mohammad to visit Syria and Iran this week

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will start an official visit to Iran and Syria this week to discuss bilateral ties and developments in the region, Gulf News has learnt.

Shaikh Mohammad's visits to Damascus and Tehran are at the invitations of the leaderships of both countries.

He will hold talks with Syrian and Iranian leaders on the situation in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq.

The Vice-President will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, and a number of ministers and senior officials. Shaikh Mohammad will be the most senior UAE official to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

It also follows last week's visit to Dubai by Dr Ali Akbar Velayati, Adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who met with Shaikh Mohammad and conveyed to him an invitation from the Iranian leadership to visit Tehran.

Largest trading partner

The UAE is Iran's largest trade partner and the two countries enjoy amicable relations. Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian head of state to visit the UAE in May 2007.

Earlier, Shaikh Mohammad had met with US President George W. Bush in Dubai, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

During his visit to Germany, Shaikh Mohammad reiterated the UAE's firm stand against the launching of a military strike against Iran.

The Vice-President said he can see the promising signs of an approaching resolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis and urged all countries to exert greater efforts to this end.

Shaikh Mohammad's discussions with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad will focus on the situation in Lebanon and Palestine as well as ways to achieve Arab interests and provide the foundation for a successful Arab summit in Damascus in March.