Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Wednesday that Saudi-Iranian talks hosted by Iraq have reached an “advanced level.”
Al-Kadhimi told a press conference in the capital Baghdad that Iraq “has played an important role in bringing the views of the regional countries closer by hosting dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
However, the premier did not provide any details about the progress in the talks between the two regional rivals.
In an effort to normalize their relations and ease tensions between the two neighbors, Iraq has hosted five rounds of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent months.
A meeting is expected to be held between Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan in Baghdad, Iranian lawmaker Javad Karimi-Ghodousi said last month. However, he did not give an exact date for the meeting.
Following an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr was executed by Saudi authorities, Tehran and Riyadh severed diplomatic relations in January 2016.
After Iran accused Riyadh of deliberately causing the death of around 400 Iranian pilgrims in a 2015 stampede in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the relationship between the two rivals deteriorated further.
Often accusing each other of waging a proxy war for regional influence, the two sides have since been engaged in a strong regional rivalry.
