Abdullah bin Saud al-Anzi, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to Oman, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday at the same time as the Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to end years of severed relations.
Al-Anzi said, “The instructions of the Saudi leadership are based on the importance of strengthening cooperation and communication and pushing them towards wider horizons.”
The Saudi diplomat added, “Saudi Arabia’s 2030 political vision is to strengthen cooperation between the two countries based on a strategic view that consolidates the principles of good neighborliness, understanding, constructive and purposeful dialogue, and respect which will lead to mutual trust between the two brotherly countries.”
Diplomatic relations between the two counties were severed by Saudi Arabia in January 2016, after Iranian protesters, angered by the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr by the Saudi government, stormed its embassy in Tehran.
After a seven-year hiatus, the two countries agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies last March after several days of intensive negotiations brokered by China.
