Iranian Delegation to Visit Saudi Arabia Soon

Date: 10 April 2023 - 22:24

News ID: ۱۱۳۹۱۱

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said here Monday an Iranian delegation will soon visit Saudi Arabia to pave the way for the reopening of diplomatic missions between the two countries, adding that talks were also underway with Bahrain.
In his weekly presser, Kanaani confirmed that a Saudi delegation visited Tehran on Saturday and that a Saudi team would soon be dispatched to Riyadh in order to restore diplomatic ties, in line with a China-brokered deal.
A Saudi delegation arrived in Iran on Saturday to discuss the reopening of diplomatic missions, two days after a landmark meeting in between their foreign ministers in Beijing.
In a joint statement released following the meeting, both sides agreed to reopen their diplomatic missions within the next two months as well as flights between the countries. Saturday’s meeting is likely the first of several aimed at reopening the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran, as well as the consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad.
Kanaani stated that two Iranian delegations had also been sent to the Bahraini capital of Manama for talks, without elaborating on further details. Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian expressed hope that the two countries would work towards normalization of ties.
Bahrain cut ties with Iran in 2016, in solidarity with Saudi Arabia which closed its embassy in Tehran.
The UAE also sided with Saudi Arabia seven years ago, cutting ties with Iran as a show of support with the Kingdom. Kanaani said that UAE-Iran ties “are moving forward” particularly after Tehran last week named its first ambassador to Abu Dhabi since the fallout.
The recent normalization of ties has been welcomed by analysts as a step forward to resolving the war in Yemen. Media reports on Saturday said the Saudis and Yemenis have agreed to a six-month truce.
Kanaani added that Iran hopes a “sustainable ceasefire” could be implements in war-torn Yemen “thanks to the new circumstances in the region.”
“Since the beginning of this crisis, the Islamic Republic of Iran …

has emphasized that the only solution is a political one with the presence of all Yemeni sides to decide the fate of the country and the formation of a government in line with the interests of the Yemeni nation,” he said.

Kanaani also said Israel has not desisted from its atrocities in the region, warning that the occupying regime will spare no efforts to pursue its criminal acts against Palestine and other regional countries as it seeks to channel off its crises.

“Despite grappling with dense internal crises and tensions … and a wide political and social divide in the occupied territories, the Zionist regime is still trying to spread the crisis from within … to the Palestinian lands and other adjacent areas,” he said.