Saudi and Iranian Foreign Ministers to Meet in Beijing

Riyadh, MINA – Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian will meet in Beijing on Thursday to discuss further steps to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The China-brokered meeting will mark the first formal contact between Saudi Arabia and a top Iranian envoy since 2016, Al-Arabiya reported.

The meeting came after three separate phone calls between the two foreign ministers, during which they discussed the next steps for the diplomatic mission and reactivating previous agreements.

In a joint statement issued on March 10, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China announced that they would resume diplomatic relations within 60 days.

The statement stressed the need to respect national sovereignty and refrain from interfering in internal affairs.

The statement also emphasized that all cooperation agreements between the two countries, including security cooperation agreements, and agreements in the fields of economy, trade, investment, technology, science, culture, sports and youth will be reactivated.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was raided during a dispute between the two countries.

At that time, the Saudi Kingdom asked Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours while evacuating its embassy staff from Tehran. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)