Iraq says will host sixth round of Iran-Saudi talks

Iraq’s foreign minister say Baghdad is set to host a new round of negotiations between neighboring Iran and Saudi Arabia aimed at mending their troubled relations, after Tehran and Riyadh wrapped up a fifth session of talks in the Iraqi capital.

Fuad Hossein on Sunday hailed as “positive” the fifth round of negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia recently hosted by the Baghdad government, the Iraqi National News Agency cited him as saying.

Baghdad plans to host a sixth round of talks between Tehran and Riyadh, the top diplomat said without providing any specific date.

The Iraqi foreign minister had said earlier that his country would spare no effort to set the stage for détente between Tehran and Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia severed its ties with Iran following an attack by Iranian protesters against the kingdom’s embassy in Iran in 2016. The protesters were angry at Saudi Arabia over its execution of top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baghir al-Nimr.

The two Middle East powers remain deeply divided on a number of regional issues, especially Riyadh’s bloody war on Yemen as well as the kingdom’s overtures to the occupying Israeli regime.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of providing military support to Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, which brought about the collapse of a Riyadh-friendly government in Sana’a in 2014.

Riyadh is also an opponent of Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

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