DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary will visit the United Arab Emirates soon, Iran’s Etemad newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The visit by the Iranian official, Ali Shamkhani, comes at a time of growing rapprochement between Iran and Gulf countries.

The United Arab Emirates sent an ambassador back to Iran in September, more than six years after the Gulf Arab state downgraded ties with the Islamic Republic.

“Shamkhani will meet with his Emirati counterpart to discuss the status of negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and other security-political issues,” Etemad reported on its Telegram channel.

The UAE downgraded its ties with Iran after Saudi Arabia severed its relations with Iran in January 2016 following the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran by Iranian protesters after Riyadh executed a prominent Shia cleric.

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The UAE has business and trade ties with Iran stretching back more than a century, with the Dubai emirate long being one of Iran’s main links to the outside world.

Last week, Shamkhani took part in talks brokered by China to resume diplomatic ties and reopen embassies between Iran and Saudi Arabia.