Hossein Amirabdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, arrived in Riyadh on Thursday for the first time since the two nations’ reestablished diplomatic ties earlier this year.
Iran-Saudi relations on right track: Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, welcomed Mr. Amirabdollahian at the Saudi Foreign Ministry in Riyadh.
In a press conference with Prince Faisal, who described the negotiations as “successful,” Mr. Amirabdollahian claimed that relations between Tehran and Saudi Arabia are “on the right track” and that they are making progress.
According to Prince Faisal, King Salman had extended an invitation to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to travel to Saudi Arabia.
The “appropriate time” has been described by Mr. Raisi as when he will visit the kingdom.
According to Prince Faisal, the kingdom is eager to implement all key provisions of the agreement negotiated by China and will endeavour to develop greater commercial and security ties with Tehran.
He continued, saying he was pleased that Iran had supported Riyadh’s ambition to host Expo 2030. “We look forward to a new phase in our relationship based on our Islamic brotherhood and work towards common interests,” he said.
During his visit, the Iranian official put his signature in the ministry’s visitor’s log.
During their encounter, Prince Faisal and Mr. Amirabdollahian talked about local and international matters, according to the Iranian state news agency Irna.
Additionally, Mr. Amirabdollahian complimented the monarchy for setting up travel for Iranian pilgrims completing the Hajj and Ummah there.
“Diplomatic Progress: Iran and Saudi Arabia Seek Security, Economic, and Trade Accords”
Mr. Amirabdollahian emphasized the need for the prompt implementation of security, economic, and trade accords.
Prince Faisal stated that Saudi Arabia is eager to sign commercial and security-related deals with Tehran and that the country wants to establish relations based on “mutual respect”.
In March, China mediated a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to mend their diplomatic differences and reestablish ties, following years of enmity that had threatened regional security.
In June, Prince Faisal visited Tehran and met with Iranian officials. This marked his first trip to the city since the restoration of diplomatic ties.
After protestors attacked its embassy in Tehran in 2016 in retribution for Riyadh’s death of a prominent Shiite cleric, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran.
“Renewed Cooperation Between Iran and Saudi Arabia: A Multifaceted Approach”
Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, had stated that Mr. Amirabdollahian and Prince Faisal will talk about resuming cooperation in a number of areas and expressed hope that they “will be able to reach better results in terms of setting goals of the two countries.”
Along with representatives from both nations, Aziz Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, and Talal Al Otaibi, the assistant defence minister of Saudi Arabia, met on Wednesday outside the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.
According to the Saudi Defence Ministry on X, the social media site that replaced Twitter, they discussed defence and security cooperation as well as strategies to improve them.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to resume all collaborative agreements, including those related to security cooperation, trade, technology, investment, research, culture, and sports.
Iran reopened its consulate in Jeddah and diplomatic mission in Riyadh last month.
Ehsan Khandouzi, the finance minister of Iran, paid his first official visit to Saudi Arabia since the resumption of diplomatic ties in May.
In May, Tehran named Alireza Enayati to be its ambassador to Saudi Arabia.