Iranian FM visits U.A.E. on May 23

The United Arab Emirates news agency on Sunday said that Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi will visit the UAE on May 23 to discuss relations between Iran and the Arab Gulf states.

Director of the Gulf Cooperation Council affairs at the UAE Foreign Ministry, Khaleifa Shahin el-Mari, was quoted as saying that that the Iranian official will discuss "multi-faceted relations between the GCC member states and Iran and current developments in the region."

Talks are expected to deal with disputes between the two countries over Greater Tanb, Lesser Tanb and Abu Moussa islands, With Iran News daily noting that Kharazi stressed in December 1997 that the "Iranian government is ready to meet with UAE officials on any level" to hold talks on the three islands.

Kharazi will hold talks with his counterpart, Rashid Abdullah al-Nuaymi as well as with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Sultan.