Warm Relations, Iranian Foreign Minister Immediately Visit Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will visit Saudi Arabia in the near future at his call to prayer in Riyadh, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Miki said.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Mikhami said Amirabdollahian was invited by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

However, it did not give an exact date of visit, which will be the first official visit of Iran's foreign minister to the Arab country after more than seven years.

"During the visit, both parties will negotiate various problems, including the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the economic sector," said Mizi as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Monday, August 14.

He emphasized that relations between the two countries are slowly increasingly showing progress.

He also mentioned that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh. However, he said the schedule for the president's visit had not yet been decided.

Last week, Iranian news agency IRNA said the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran had reopened and resumed its activities.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, during his visit to Tehran in June, announced Saudi Arabia would soon reopen its embassy in Tehran.

During the visit, Prince Farhan and Amirabdollahian also agreed to form a joint committee in the political and economic fields to achieve common interests.

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in retaliation for the execution of prominent Shia clerics by the Saudi government.

In April 2021, brokered by Iraq and Oman, the two countries decided to negotiate to rebuild relations.

After nearly two years, the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries was finally reached in an agreement brokered by China.

Iran has reopened its embassy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Tehran has also opened a consulate and Iranian representative office for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah in early June.