Iran to send team after Saudi delegation visits Tehran

TEHRAN: An Iranian technical delegation will visit Saudi Arabia this week to prepare for the reopening of Iran’s embassy in Riyadh amid a thaw in relations between the two regional powers, Iranian media said Sunday.

The development, reported by the semi-official ISNA news agency, comes days after the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats in more than seven years after China brokered a deal to restore relations between the two archrivals.

“The Iranian technical delegation will visit Tehran’s embassy in Riyadh and make arrangements for the reopening of Iran’s embassy in Saudi Arabia,” ISNA reported.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said Saturday that officials had visited Iran to discuss procedures for reopening Riyadh’s diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic.

“The Saudi delegation visited the Saudi embassy in Tehran this morning,” ISNA added.

The delegation arrived in Iran to discuss the reopening of its missions after a seven-year absence, Riyadh’s Foreign Ministry said.

Cited by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the ministry called the visit part of “implementing the tripartite agreement” reached on March 10 to restore ties ruptured in 2016.

On Saturday, a Saudi “technical delegation” met Iran’s chief of protocol, Mehdi Honardoust, at the foreign ministry in Tehran, SPA said.

The two longtime Middle East rivals have now pledged to work together.

When Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian met in Beijing on Thursday, they vowed to bring security and stability to the turbulent Gulf region.

“The two sides emphasized the importance of following up on the implementation of the Beijing Agreement and its activation in a way that expands mutual trust and the fields of cooperation and helps create security, stability and prosperity in the region.”