Dubai, UAE – Saudi Arabia and Iran are taking more steps to consolidate their ties following the rapprochement between them brokered by China. The Iranian government on Sunday proposed to Saudi Arabia three locations for a foreign minister’s level meeting.
Addressing a news conference in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said his country had agreed to such a meeting.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has already “welcomed” an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to visit the kingdom following the reconciliation deal between the two countries, an Iranian official said Sunday.
“In a letter to President Raisi… the King of Saudi Arabia welcomed the deal between the two brotherly countries (and) invited him to Riyadh,” tweeted Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, adding that “Raisi welcomed the invitation”.
Amirabdollahian also said Tehran was ready for the mutual reopening of embassies.
Iranian foreign minister also said that his country hoped steps would be taken to normalize its ties with Bahrain, a Saudi ally that had also severed ties with Iran in 2016.
“An agreement was reached two months ago for Iranian and Bahraini technical delegations to visit the embassies of the two countries,” Amirabdollahian said. “We hope that some obstacles between Iran and Bahrain will be removed and we will take basic steps to reopen the embassies.”
