Tehran – Iran confirmed openly on Monday that it is in talks with Saudi Arabia, saying it would do best to resolve issues between them.
“De-escalation of tensions between the two Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf region is in the interest of both nations and the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a televised weekly news conference.
“We welcome resolving of the issues that have existed between the two countries … We will use our best efforts in this regard”, he added.
Ambassador Rayed Krimly, head of policy planning at Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry, told last week that talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran were aimed at reducing regional tensions.
He also said that it would be too early to judge the outcome and Kingdom wanted to see “verifiable deeds”.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in disagreements, for Iran’s meddling in countries from Yemen to Syria to Iraq. The two nations cut diplomatic ties in 2016.
Middle East officials and sources said last month that they had held two rounds of talks.
Based on inputs from Reuters.
