“We are planning the departure of two delegations to Saudi Arabia by the end of the week, one to Jeddah and the other to Riyadh, to prepare for the restoration of bilateral relations,” said the Iranian deputy minister of affairs. foreign Alireza Eniati.
According to AFP, a group of Saudi diplomats with similar tasks has already arrived in Tehran. Last Saturday, the “technical delegation” met with the director of the protocol department of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mehdi Khonardust. As noted, the Iranian official confirmed “his country’s readiness and willingness to provide all means and support to assist the Saudi delegation in its mission.”
Recall that diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 2016 after a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, was executed in Riyadh, and in response, protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy. Saudi Arabia in Tehran. Since then, the controversy has only grown. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of attacking its oil installations.
In recent years, attempts have been made to normalize relations, several rounds of negotiations have taken place. The latest of these took place in Beijing in early March, where it was announced that the Iranian and Saudi authorities had agreed to restore diplomatic relations. They declared themselves ready to reopen the embassies and to do so within two months.
These plans were also confirmed by the foreign ministers of the two countries, Faisal bin Farhan and Mohammad Amir Abdollahian, who held a personal meeting in Beijing on April 6.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to visit Riyadh at the end of the month at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud.
According to experts, the rapprochement of the two countries can have a positive impact on the situation in the region and help resolve conflicts, especially in Yemen, where they support the belligerents.
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