The UAE’s ambassador to Iran, Saif Mohammed al-Zaabi, will resume his duties at the embassy in Tehran in the coming days, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign affairs said on Sunday.

The decision came “in line with UAE efforts to strengthen relations with Iran, and as part of a previous decision to increase diplomatic representation to the rank of ambassador,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that the decision contributes to “further advancing bilateral relations in cooperation with officials in Iran to achieve the common interests of the two countries and the wider region.”

The announcement follows a phone call on July 26 between the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The UAE had recalled its ambassador from Tehran in 2012 after then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Abu Musa island as part of a tour of Iran’s Gulf coast.

Abu Musa is located 60 kilometers off the UAE, and the Gulf country claims it as sovereign territory along with two other small islands located near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran claimed control of the islands in 1971.