Rebuilding Iran-Saudi Ties Benefits Regional Security: Raisi
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hailed Iraq for its mediation in the rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh, noting that mending and strengthening relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will serve regional security.
Raisi made the remark in a Monday meeting with the visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Tehran.
The president lauded Iraq’s positive role in regional developments, saying, “The initiatives offered and measures taken by Iraq to improve cooperation among regional countries free from foreign meddling play an effective role in bolstering regional collaboration.”
Raisi noted that five rounds of talks between Tehran and Riyadh, which were mediated by Iraq, were positive and useful, emphasizing that implementation of agreements reached in those talks would pave the way for further promotion of the two sides’ interactions.
“Reestablishment and further bolstering of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will be in the interest of the regional security,” Iran’s president said, Press TV reported.
He also emphasized that establishment of security and stability in Iraq would be only possible through dialogue among all political groups on the basis of the country's constitution and with the goal of forming a new government.
Hussein, for his part, commended Iran’s uninterrupted support for the establishment of stability and security in Iraq, saying his country will continue efforts to improve Iran’s relations with Saudi Arabia.
Iraq has hosted five rounds of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran at the level of intelligence and security heads since last April, the top Iraqi diplomat added.
Last month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian appreciated the “constructive” role of Iraq in advancing regional dialogue and said there has been “progress” in the last five rounds of talks with Saudi Arabia.
Amirabdollahian said he had told Iraqi mediators that Tehran is ready for a new political and security phase with Riyadh, expressing hope that the measure would “eventually lead to the return of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran relations to normal.”
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, enraged by the Saudi execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, stormed its embassy in Tehran.