Dubai, Jun 22 (AP) The president of the United Arab Emirates met with Iran's visiting foreign minister on Thursday in the latest sign of improving relations between Arab Gulf countries and the Islamic Republic.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long harboured suspicions about Iran because of its nuclear program and support for militant groups across the region, and have cultivated close defence ties with the US But in recent months they have charted a more independent path, reaching out to US adversaries as Washington increasingly focuses on Russia and China.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian “discussed the importance of building on positive developments to benefit the people of the region and enhance regional stability and prosperity,” the UAE's state-run WAM news agency reported.

Iranian state TV said the two met for 90 minutes and discussed further cooperation in different fields.

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It said the Iranian foreign minister invited Sheikh Mohammed to visit Iran and that the UAE president invited Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi to visit the Emirates.

The meeting follows similar recent outreach by Saudi Arabia, which agreed to normalise relations with Iran for the first time in seven years in a deal brokered by China in March.

The two countries have since reopened embassies and held high-level official visits.

The UAE, home to the futuristic cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is a close US military ally that hosts some 2,000 American troops at the Al-Dhafra Air Base.

US forces based there and in other Arab Gulf countries have long been seen as a deterrent to Iran.

The UAE was also the driving force behind the so-called Abraham Accords, in which it and three other Arab countries forged ties with Israel.

Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and hopes to further isolate it by pursuing closer ties with Arab states.

Israel and the US are keen to reach a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials say any such agreement would have to be linked to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)