TEHRAN, Dec 27 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday, Iran and Saudi Arabia have the political will to take a new step towards repairing bilateral relations.
Making the remarks at a weekly press conference, Nasser Kanaani said, the two countries seem to currently agree on the adoption of a “constructive” approach, towards the resumption of the talks on normalisation of bilateral relations, of which five rounds have so far been held.
He said, in view of the current atmosphere, the possibility exists for holding a new round of the Tehran-Riyadh talks, in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
“Iraq is trusted by both sides of the negotiations,” Kanaani added, stressing that, both Iran and Saudi Arabia welcome the Iraqi efforts.
He described as “positive” the recent remarks by Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, about Riyadh’s preparedness for the continuation of the talks with Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and his Saudi counterpart held a meeting last week, on the sidelines of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, in Jordan’s Amman, marking the highest-level engagement reported between the two countries, since they severed ties in 2016.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early 2016, in response to attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric.
To improve bilateral relations and ease regional tension, Baghdad hosted four rounds of direct talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia last year, and a fifth round in Apr this year.– NNN-TASNIM
