Tehran Ready for Reopening of Iranian, Saudi Embassies
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani expressed the country’s readiness for the reopening of the embassies and consulates of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the two countries.
Speaking to reporters at a weekly press conference on Monday, Kanaani said Iran has announced several times that, if Saudi Arabia is serious about proceeding with the reconciliation talks, Tehran will be ready to continue the negotiations as well and elevate the talks to the political level and the foreign ministries of the two states.
The Islamic Republic is also prepared for obtaining a result from the negotiations in regard to the reopening of the political and consular missions of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the two countries, he added.
The spokesman stressed that Iran is willing to bring the ties with Saudi Arabia on the right track, as it is prepared to shake hands warmly with anyone extending a hand of friendship.
Iran believes that if the main focus is on the fulfillment of the interests of the two countries, there will be no obstacle to the normalization of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, he stated, noting that rapprochement depends on “political will”.
Representatives of Iran and Saudi Arabia have held several rounds of talks in Baghdad during the past year.
Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh soured following the January 2016 execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy, in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh cut ties with Tehran afterwards, responding to attacks by angry protesters on its embassy in the Iranian capital.
Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen as well as the death of hundreds of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in a deadly crush in Saudi Arabia’s Mina in September 2015 had prepared the ground for the deterioration of tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.