Iran FM touts unity on first Saudi visit since ties restored

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – AFP

Iran’s top diplomat preached unity and dialogue during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, his first since the two Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement in March.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also took the opportunity to reiterate the Islamic republic’s support for the Palestinian cause at a time when Riyadh is in discussions with the United States about potentially normalising ties with Israel.

Ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran “are progressing in the right direction,” Amir-Abdollahian told reporters at a press conference with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan, touting economic and security cooperation without announcing any new agreements.

Thursday’s meeting in the Saudi foreign ministry’s Islamic Solidarity Hall “will be a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two countries”, he said, without specifying when President Ebrahim Raisi would visit Saudi Arabia at King Salman’s invitation.

“We are sure that these meetings and cooperation will help the unity of the Islamic world,” he added, proposing a “regional dialogue” but providing no details.

The foreign ministers did not take questions.

The two countries severed ties in 2016 after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

But in March, a China-brokered deal saw the long-time rivals agree to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies.

In June, Iran reopened its embassy in Riyadh with a flag-raising ceremony.

Its new ambassador, Alireza Enayati, travelled with Amir-Abdollahian to Riyadh on Thursday.

Prince Faisal confirmed on Thursday that the Saudi embassy in Tehran has also resumed operations, which he described as “another step in the development of relations between the two countries”.