MEE contacted the UAE Embassy media office in London, but did not receive a reply by the time their story about senior UAE official in Tehran was published. Iran News quotes.

The visit by senior UAE official, Zayed, also the younger brother of UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, marks the highest-level meeting between Abu Dhabi and Tehran after four tankers off the Emirati port of Fujairah were attacked in May, according to Al Jazeera.

The visit also came after a UAE delegation visited Iran in July to discuss maritime security amid an increase in tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Last month, Abu Dhabi welcomed an initiative by European leaders to ease tension with Iran and open a diplomatic path.

“With persistence, the E3 [Britain, France and Germany] can open up a new channel of communication and establish greater trust,” the UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Gargash wrote in the Financial Times.

“The UAE, Iran and other states can share the [Persian] Gulf as normal neighbors, if not as the best of friends.”

Zayed’s mission comes amid a number of backchannel efforts to facilitate a dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran.