Shamkhani Heads to UAE Thursday

A Russian warship during a joint naval military exercise with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman (Reuters)
A Russian warship during a joint naval military exercise with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman (Reuters)
TT

Shamkhani Heads to UAE Thursday

A Russian warship during a joint naval military exercise with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman (Reuters)
A Russian warship during a joint naval military exercise with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman (Reuters)

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, amid regional rapprochement, Nour News, which is affiliated with the Iranian top security body, reported.

His visit to Abu Dhabi comes at a time of growing rapprochement between Iran and Gulf countries. Last week, Shamkhani took part in talks brokered by China that resulted in Saudi Arabia and Iran resuming diplomatic ties after they were suspended in 2016.

"Shamkhani will travel to Abu Dhabi on Thursday in response to an official invitation by his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues," Nour News said on Wednesday.

News of the visit came as Saudi Arabia's finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said that Saudi investment in Iran could happen "very quickly" following last week's agreement.

Shamkhani's trip to the UAE highlights growing ties between Tehran and Abu Dhabi since the latter sent an ambassador back to Iran in September, more than six years after the Gulf Arab state downgraded ties with Tehran.

"Top economic, banking and security officials will accompany the Supreme National Security Council secretary to the UAE," according to the news site.

"Shamkhani will meet with his Emirati counterpart to discuss the status of negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and other security-political issues," Reuters reported.

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.



Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Iran's police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

"The police commander... was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behaviour of staff," the police said, AFP reported.

"Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi's death depends on the medical examiner's final report.

The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

"The behaviour of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority," the statement added.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi "was killed under torture in the detention center".

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.