Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad al-Khalifa arrived in Tehran Thursday on a mission to ease tension between caused by a senior Iranian cleric's remarks, dpa reported.
Former Iranian parliament Speaker, the conservative Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nouri, had reportedly said earlier this month that Iran still had sovereignty over Bahrain - sparking a diplomatic crisis.
According to a foreign ministry statement in Tehran, al-Khalifa was to meet his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki to discuss the dispute. The two will hold a joint press conference on Friday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already sent a message to Bahrain's King Hamad through an envoy as a first effort to cool the crisis.
The Iranian foreign ministry Monday said the remarks by Nateq- Nouri, currently one of the advisers of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were misinterpreted.
The ministry said relations with Bahrain were based on mutual respect, especially respect for the sheikhdom's territorial integrity.
In 1996 when the two states recalled their ambassadors after Manama blamed Teheran for violent unrest among the Shiite population in Bahrain.
Teheran at that time denied the charges and said the unrest was internally motivated. Ties were normalised following the 1997 Islamic summit in Teheran and upgraded to ambassador level in 1998.
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