Saudi delegation visiting Iran

The state-run Saudi news agency SPA reports on Saturday that it is a “technical delegation” meeting the head of protocol in the Iranian Foreign Ministry”.

The thaw has now been going on since the beginning of March when it turned out that China unexpectedly mediated between the two enemy nations.

Last Thursday, the foreign ministers of both countries met in Beijing.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran are on different sides in several conflicts in the Middle East – not least of which is the conflict in Yemen, where the Huthi rebels are supported by Tehran, while Riyadh leads a coalition fighting the rebels.

Seven years ago, relations between the countries froze when Iranian protesters occupied Saudi diplomatic missions, protesting the execution of a Shiite dissident in Saudi Arabia.

Iran has been repeatedly accused of carrying out attacks on the Saudi oil industry.

According to an agreement reached in Beijing at the beginning of March, the countries’ diplomatic embassies in each country must reopen within two months.

Since then, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to visit Riyadh, a visit expected to take place after the fasting month of Ramadan ends at the end of April.

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