UAE and Iran sign extradition treaty

ABU DHABI // After almost three years of negotiations the United Arab Emirates and Iran have signed an extradition agreement. As well as the extradition treaty, agreements focusing on criminal assistance and civil and commercial co-operation were signed in Tehran by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. The minister and delegations from the UAE Ministry of Justice are visiting Tehran to ratify the agreements which have been in the making for nearly three years. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said: "This is a normal procedure that we are trying to sign extradition treaties with as many countries as we can." However, the agreements could still take months to come into effect. Like all of the extradition treaties, neither countries will extradite its own nationals. If an Iranian or anyone of any other nationality commits a crime in Iran and flees to the UAE, they can be extradited to Iran at Iran's request. The agreement works in kind for the UAE. myoussef@thenational.ae