In an exclusive report, it was stated on Wednesday that an agreement for the reciprocal reopening of consulates between Saudi Arabia and Iran had been achieved in principle. According to the report, the announcement is expected to happen within weeks.
Speaking to the news agency, a foreign diplomat on duty in Saudi Arabia said, “They, in principle, have reached an agreement to reopen consulates… and I think an announcement of normalization of ties may come in the next few weeks.”
The report came as that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan admitted that a new round of negotiations with Iran had been held on September 21. This was the first of its kind with Iran’s new administration under President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh also made a statement confirming the latest round of talks between the two countries. In his statement, Khatibzadeh said, “There have been good discussions on bilateral issues & good progress on Persian Gulf security. Since President Raisi taking office, messages have been exchanged at an appropriate level.”
Noted that the Saudi side is keen to bring an end to the war in Yemen, the diplomatic source said, Riyadh and Tehran are “on the verge of agreeing to ease tensions between them and the proxy war in the region.”
Meanwhile, Qatar has insistently delivered its intention to facilitate negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after Doha and Riyadh agreed to normalize ties at the beginning of the year. Recently, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani emphasized on this point saying his country supports positive developments between the two countries.
Speaking at the session held during the Global Security Forum, Qatar’s top diplomat said, “Our aim is to reach a regional security understanding between the GCC and Iran. Iran is our neighbor, Iran is a player in our region, and we cannot deny it.”
