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Doha: The leaders of the UAE and Iran met privately in Doha shortly before the start of the GCC summit on Monday, a top Emirati confirmed.
“There was a meeting between President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which was a protocol meeting to welcome the Iranian president to the summit,” Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan told reporters following the opening session of the summit.
The meeting was however preceded by another between Shaikh Abdullah and his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottak, Gulf News learnt.
They met for approximately an hour shortly before the GCC summit began here, an Emirati informed source said.
The Gulf leaders’ annual conference is being attended for the first time by Ahmadinejad who addressed the summit.
The meeting between Shaikh Abdullah and Mottaki discussed "the issue of UAE islands and other issues on the summit’s agenda especially the attendance of president Ahmadinejad," the source said.
On Saturday, the UAE again called on Iran to solve the issue of the three Emirati islands, occupied by Iran since 1971, by either direct negotiations or international arbitration.
The call was made by Shaikh Khalifa on the occasion of the National Day. “We will accept the outcome of any such arbitration, whatever the decision may be," Shaikh Khalifa said.
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