King Salman of Saudi Arabia has invited Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to the capital Riyadh, according to a report today (Sunday) in the Reuters news agency, which quoted an Iranian official, this follows the announcement earlier this month about the renewal of bilateral ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the reopening of the embassies in the next two months, after years of hostile relations. In the meantime, the Iranian foreign minister also announced that he will soon meet with his Saudi counterpart.
Raisi “welcomed” the invitation, but at the moment, a date has not been set for the planned visit. As you may recall, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016, after the masterminds invaded Saudi diplomatic posts. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shia cleric several days earlier, leading the protests.
According to the reports in the “Al-Arabi Al-Jadid” newspaper, Russia was involved in the renewal of contacts between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and before the decision was made, the head of the Supreme National Security Council in Iran, Ali Shamkhani, spoke with senior officials of the Russian regime.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, for his part welcomed the warming of relations between the two countries and said as mentioned that his country played a significant role in the process – alongside China, Oman and Iraq.
