TEHRAN — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal Ben Farhan has spoken about Iran and Palestine in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Saturday.

The foreign minister stated that his country welcomes dialogue with Iran, but Tehran should demonstrate its commitment to ensuring security and stability in the region, Al Jazeera quoted the newspaper as saying. 

Bin Farhan also spoke about regional security issues.

Saudi Arabia launched a war on Yemen in March 2015, a war that the United Nations has said has caused the worst humanitarian situation in the modern history. 

The top Saudi diplomat described the position of Iran and Saudi Arabia on the recent talks that began in Iraq a few months ago as "positive" and expressed hope that these talks will lead to mending relations Riyadh and Tehran.  

Earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Saudi National Television that Saudi Arabia's foreign policy is based on its interests and that the Saudi kingdom is working to strengthen alliances with all partners around the world and is interested in establishing a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On June 19, bin Farhan said, "We have initiated some exploratory talks. They are at a very early stage but we are hopeful.”

The talks with Iran, facilitated by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, had remained secret until the Financial Times reported that a first meeting had been held in Baghdad on April 9.

SA/PA