Iraqi FM: Tehran-Riyadh reconciliation talks continue

Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties after a years-long rift continue, the Iraqi foreign minister, whose country hosts the negotiations, has announced.

In an interview with Rudaw media network, Fuad Hussein said, “I had a meeting with the Iranian and Saudi sides and we are trying to upgrade the negotiations to the level of foreign ministers.”

Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, enraged by the Saudi execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, stormed its embassy in Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran criticizes the kingdom for pursuing what it calls a confrontational foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic.

The Iraqi foreign minister said the Iran-Saudi talks could indirectly be affected by other developments, including Riyadh’s ties with Washington and negotiations to restore a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

Fuad Hussein also confirmed that Iraq acts as a conduit for the United States’ message to Iran to help salvage the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), after Washington withdrew from the accord in 2018.

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