BICOM

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran held talks on maritime issues for the first time since 2013.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said yesterday that an official delegation from the UAE’s coast guard arrived in Iran to discuss a range of maritime issues, including shared borders, visits by citizens of each nation, illegal entries, and the flow of shipping in the Straits of Hormuz. A Gulf official told Reuters: “It is a technical meeting that was organised a long time ago to discuss routine maritime issues.”

Reuters reports that: “The discussions had been off since 2013, but the UAE is widely seen in the region as wanting to guard its reputation as a safe business hub.”

According to an Emirati official, the meeting between the UAE and Iranian coast guards was the sixth in a series, the last one being three months ago. They discussed a solution to Iran’s detention of a group of Emirati and Asian fishermen, who had strayed into Iranian territorial waters.

The meeting comes at a time of heightened tension over maritime security in the Persian Gulf. Attacks on a Norweigian tanker and an Emirati vessel off the UAE coast in May, as well as the seizure of a UK-flagged ship by Iran earlier this month have increased threats to commercial ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz, a vital oil supply route.

The Wall Street Journal says: “The official visit is rare for the UAE, which is backing a US push to sanction Tehran and is also fighting pro-Iranian rebels in Yemen.”

Iran claimed the meeting is to reinforce maritime security and improve relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. At the same time Iranian officials warn that they would block the Strait of Hormuz in response to US sanctions.

The US Embassy in Berlin formally asked the UK, Germany and France to participate in its maritime mission to secure the Straits of Hormuz and combat Iranian aggression. The Embassy said: “Members of the German government have been clear that freedom of navigation should be protected … our question is, protected by whom.”

The Foreign Office said yesterday that it was looking at how to coordinate its efforts to secure freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz with the efforts of the US. The Royal Navy type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan arrived in the Gulf on Monday to support the type 23 frigate HMS Montrose escorting UK ships in the Gulf.