Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has welcomed an invitation from King Salman of Saudi Arabia to visit the kingdom following a reconciliation agreement between the two countries, an Iranian official said.
“In a letter to President Raisi… The King of Saudi Arabia welcomed the agreement between the two brother countries [and] invited him to Riyadh,” said Mohammad Jamshidi, deputy chief of staff to the Iranian president. responsible for political issues, wrote on Twitter. message this Sunday that “Raisi welcomes the invitation”.
The two regional heavyweights on March 10 announced a China-brokered deal to restore relations after a seven-year rift.
Riyadh severed ties after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in 2016 following the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr – just one of a row. series of hot spots between the two regional rivals for a long time.
The deal is expected to see Shia-majority Iran and predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia reopen their embassies and representations within two months. , while implementing economic and security cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters on Sunday that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting between their top diplomats.
He added that three locations for the talks had been proposed, but did not specify where.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said Amir-Abdollahian stressed “the two countries are exchanging technical teams to check embassies in Tehran and Riyadh and see if they are ready for the two missions.” deployed there or not.
“The Iranians have proposed, according to Amir-Abdollahian, three locations for the meeting. The exchange is now done through the Swiss Embassy and not through the Chinese. This could indicate that there are now some channels between Iranians and Saudis,” Hashem said.
Reconciliation between Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, and Iran, which is at odds with Western governments over its nuclear activities, has the potential to reshape relations. system in a region that has experienced decades of instability.