Iran says it will send delegation to Saudi Arabia to pave way for reopening embassy

Tehran to send officials to both Riyadh and Jeddah in reciprocal move, as the countries work to rebuild ties following rapprochement announcement last month

Illustrative: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, right, meets with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Beijing, on April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
Illustrative: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, right, meets with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Beijing, on April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday that a delegation would visit Saudi Arabia by Friday to pave the way for reopening its diplomatic missions there following a similar move by Riyadh.

The announcement comes a day after a Saudi delegation arrived in Tehran on a similar diplomatic trip, and follows a historic meeting between the two Gulf countries’ foreign ministers in China.

“We are expecting a foreign ministry delegation to visit Saudi Arabia” by Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Enayati said, in an interview with state television.

“Two separate delegations will go to Riyadh and Jeddah,” ahead of the reopening of Iran’s embassy and consulate respectively.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in January 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked by protesters demonstrating over Riyadh’s execution of Saudi opposition Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan met in the Chinese capital on Thursday after Tehran and Riyadh agreed last month to restore diplomatic ties.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (R) shakes hands with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban (L), as Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat, looks on (C), during a closed meeting held in Beijing, March 11, 2023. (Luo Xiaoguang/ Xinhua via AP)

In a joint statement, the ministers pledged to bring back security and stability to the turbulent Gulf.

Shiite-majority Iran and Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia have backed rival sides in conflict zones across the region, including in Yemen.

Riyadh leads a military coalition that supports the internationally recognized government in the Arabian Peninsula country, while Tehran backs the Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north.

The two Middle East powerhouses had held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before reaching the agreement in Beijing, negotiated over five days between Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart Musaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban.

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