TEHRAN (FNA) -- Iran's Ambassador to the Untied Arab Emirates Hamid-Reza Asefi conferred with UAE Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan on expansion and deepening of bilateral ties.

During the meeting, the UAE minister described Iran as a significant country in the region and a friendly neighbor for his country, and said that following the recent visit to the UAE by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, a positive view has reigned the two states' relations in all dimensions, a statement released by the Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Bureau said. He further voiced UAE's preparedness to develop relations with Iran in all the political, economic and cultural areas. For his part, the Iranian envoy briefed the UAE official about Iran's resolve to expand brotherly ties with its Persian Gulf neighbors, and said that Ahmadinejad's visit to the UAE has caused a wide leap in the two states' relations, including the arrangement of a meeting of the two countries' joint economic commission in the current year and exchange of delegations to pave the way for the endorsement of judicial agreements. Also during the meeting, the two sides stressed the need for increased contacts by the two countries' officials and exchange of delegations in economic and political grounds