Iran is planning a new round of talks with Saudi Arabia, an Iranian envoy

DUBAI, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Iran plans to hold a fourth round of talks with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival in Iraq following the formation of Iran’s new government, Iranian ambassador to Baghdad said this Tuesday.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, leaders of Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have been rivals for years, supporting allies fighting representation wars in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. They cut diplomatic ties in 2016.

Iran first publicly confirmed in May that it was in talks with Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them. Since then, he has elected a new president, the tough Ebrahim Raisi, who was sworn in on August 5th.

The announcement of plans for new talks, made by the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA, came days after a regional summit in Baghdad to help ease tensions between Iraq’s neighbors. Read more

“We have held three rounds of negotiations with the Saudi side and the fourth round will take place after the formation of a new Iranian government,” Iraj Masjedi, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, said, according to ISNA .

The Iranian parliament approved all the candidates last Wednesday except one of the candidates for a strong cabinet presented by Raisi. Read more

Separately, the Iranian Foreign Minister said he had discussed ways to improve ties during a meeting with Sheikh Vice President Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the Baghdad summit.

“In this conversation, we talked about the positive intentions and the will of the leaders of the two countries to strengthen relations … Working with the neighbors is the priority of the (new Iranian) government,” the Foreign Minister said on Twitter Exteriors, Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Tensions have risen in Iran’s relations with the United Arab Emirates after last year the Gulf Arab state, allied with the United States, agreed to normalize ties with Israel, Tehran’s main enemy.

Dubai editorial report Edited by Peter Graff and Alistair Bell

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