A seven-member delegation from the UAE Coast Guard led by Brigadier General Mohammad Al-Ahbabi made an unexpected trip to Tehran on 30 July to meet their Iranian counterparts, according to local media reports in Iran (but unannounced by the UAE). It was the sixth such meeting between the two countries’ coastguards, but the first since October 2013 and a further sign of Abu Dhabi’s apparent appetite for a diplomatic solution to the threats to Gulf shipping.