For the first time since 2016, and amid a realignment of relations between Gulf states and Iran, that later said on Tuesday, that it had appointed an ambassador to the UAE.

The move comes after the UAE in August moved to upgrade ties and said it was returning its ambassador to Tehran.

Iran’s newly appointed ambassador Reza Ameri had served as the director general of the Iranian expatriates office in the Foreign Ministry, Iranian state media said.

Meanwhile, Iran welcomed a US call to help end the long-running conflict in Yemen by backing a peace process, one year after a UN-brokered truce dramatically reduced fighting.

US special envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking said on Tuesday that Washington “would like to see the Iranians show support for the political process that we hope is coming.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani described the envoy’s call as “gratifying,” stressing that Tehran had been “striving for a peace process since the beginning of the war.”

UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg described it as a “moment of hope” as the truce was largely holding despite lapsing in October.

In a separate development, Iran has foiled a drone attack against a Ministry of Defense complex in the central city of Isfahan, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, amid mounting tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

In the past, Tehran has blamed its arch-foe Israel for such attacks, including a drone attack on a military factory near Isfahan in January. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attacks.

“The Amir Al-Momenin complex in Isfahan was the target of a failed attack by a small drone which was foiled by defense systems,” Tasnim reported, adding that the attempt did not cause any damage.

In January, a Ministry of Defense industrial center was also targeted by a drone attack, which Iran said was unsuccessful and perpetrated by “mercenaries of the Zionist regime.”