Iran, Saudi FMs hold meeting, agree to work for regional peace,

The meeting was held after around seven years of severed diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern powers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian sat down for talks with his Saudi opposite number, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Beijing, which helped mediate a reconciliation agreement between the two neighbors last month.

The two ministers issued a joint statement at the end of their meeting.

During the meeting, the statement said, the two top diplomats discussed steps towards the re-opening of their embassies in Tehran and Riyadh as well as their consulates in Mashhad and Jeddah.

The ministers emphasized the need to act on the articles of the China-brokered deal aimed at resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

They also agreed to speed up the necessary arrangements for setting up technical teams tasked with exploring ways for the expansion of cooperation between the two sides, including resuming flights and facilitating issuance of visas.

The two sides also stressed the necessity to remove obstacles in the way of bolstering bilateral cooperation with the goal of serving the interests of the two nations, highlighting the countries’ economic capabilities and rich natural resources.

Tehran and Riyadh also agreed to broaden cooperation toward ensuring regional peace.

Over the past weeks, Amirabdollahian and bin Farhan had held three rounds of telephone conversations.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted an invitation by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to visit the kingdom.

The Islamic Republic has also announced a plan to send a similar invitation for the monarch to visit Iran.

The two sides had held five rounds of negotiations in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad since April 2021.