Iran FM: Tehran Ready for Reopening of Embassy in Riyadh

By staff, Agencies

Pointing to the arrangements for the resumption of the activities of Iran’s mission to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] headquarters in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson voiced the country’s readiness to reopen its embassy in the kingdom.

In comments at a weekly presser on Monday, Saeed Khatibzadeh said Iranian diplomats have been granted visa to weigh plans for the restart of the activities of Iran’s mission to the OIC, which is based in Jeddah.

Referring to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s remarks in the first press conference after his election victory in 2021, the spokesman reiterated that Iran is ready for the reopening of its embassy in Saudi Arabia.

“It depends on what practical measures the Saudi side will take,” he added.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tehran will make whatever preparation necessary to make the reopening of embassies happen.

“Three Iranian diplomats have arrived in Jeddah to start their work at the OIC,” Khatibzadeh said, adding: “Iran has always expressed its readiness to open its embassy in Saudi Arabia”.

The spokesman also said paying attention to one’s words and deeds is a prelude to a detente between Tehran and Riyadh, which, “God willing, our friends in Saudi Arabia are increasingly cognizant of”.

Last week, Khatibzadeh said Iraq would host the next round of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh soured following the January 2016 execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy, in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh cut ties with Tehran afterwards, responding to attacks by angry protesters on its embassy in the Iranian capital.

Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen as well as the death of hundreds of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in a deadly crush in Saudi Arabia’s Mina in September 2015 had prepared the ground for the deterioration of tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.