TEHRAN – Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, arrived in the Iranian capital in a high-profile visit that is expected to mark the full resumption of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

Prince Bin Farhan was welcomed at the airport by Alireza Enayati, the head of the Persian Gulf Bureau at the Iranian foreign ministry. Enayati has recently been appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia. 

In an opinion piece for IRNA, Enayati said the visit by the Saudi foreign minister to Tehran is another success of the “neighborhood policy” adopted by the Raisi administration to improve Iran’s relations with neighboring countries. 

“In the past two years, the neighborhood policy in the Persian Gulf region has led to the development and deepening of relations with the southern neighboring countries of Iran and Iraq,” Enayati said. “Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two important poles of the political field of the West Asian region, and with their multiple capacities, they can play a decisive role in the equations of the global economy.”

Prince Faisal bin Farhan underlined Saudi Arabia’s efforts to upgrade relations with Iran to a “strategic” level.

In Tehran, the Saudi foreign minister held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. The meeting was also attended by Enayati. 

Bin Farhan and Amir Abdollahian held a joint press conference after the meeting. The foreign ministers hailed the positive trend in Iran-Saudi relations that started in the wake of the March 10 agreement between Tehran and Riyadh. 

“I am happy to meet with the Saudi Foreign Minister and I am glad that we were able to meet in Tehran after almost 100 days of the agreement. During this period, the embassies and consulates of the two countries were reopened in Tehran, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Mashhad, and the ambassadors of the two countries were named and their political work is being done,” Amir Abdollahian said, according to IRNA. 

He added, “I thank Saudi Arabia for its assistance in reopening the Iranian embassy and Iran's mission to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, and in return, we also prepared facilities and grounds for Saudi citizens to travel to Iran.”

The Iranian foreign minister also said that they discussed the formation of joint committees on political, border, economic, and environmental issues. “Saudi Arabia and us also had identical views on support for the oppressed people of Palestine,” Amir Abdollahian noted. 

The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, said he had positive talks with his Iranian counterpart. “We had positive and transparent discussions with Mr. Amir Abdollahian, and this meeting took place within the framework of completing the agreement we reached in Beijing,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. 

The Saudi foreign minister noted, “We are currently trying to continue diplomatic measures and we have seen that the embassy, consulate, and representative office of Iran in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have been reopened and the Saudi embassy in Iran will be reopened soon.”

He added, “Returning the relations between the two sides to a normal state is important because both sides are considered important players in the region and these relations are based on the main basis, including mutual respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and adherence to the UN Charter.”

He also extended an invitation from the Saudi King to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi foreign minister also met with President Raisi. 

In the meeting, Prince Faisal bin Farhan conveyed the greetings of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to President Raisi. 

President Raisi and Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in various areas of cooperation. They also discussed regional and international issues and the efforts made in this regard, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry. 

The Iranian president welcomed the expansion of relations between Tehran and Riyadh. He said only Israel and the enemies of the Muslims are unhappy about the Iran-Saudi thaw. 

“Only the enemies of Muslims, and at the head of them, the Zionist regime, are upset with the development of bilateral and regional cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” Raisi said, according to a statement by the Iranian presidency. 

Underlining that there are various issues and problems in the region that have become the source of suffering for the Islamic Ummah, President Raisi said, “With the cooperation and dialogue between the countries of the region, these troubles and problems can be overcome, and there is no need for foreign interference in this direction.”

Raisi added, “The Zionist regime is not only the enemy of the Palestinians, it is a threat to all Muslims, and the normalization of the relations of some countries with this regime not only does not create security, but is also against the opinion of the Islamic Ummah.”

The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, welcomed the thaw in Tehran-Riyadh relations. “We are in a golden stage that we should appreciate, and cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran provides the opportunity to benefit from these conditions for the two sides and the region,” he said. 

Prince Faisal said the Saudi king has ordered the formation of various working groups to boost relations with Iran. He underlined Saudi Arabia’s efforts to upgrade relations with Iran to a strategic level. “Economic, development and cultural cooperation is on the agenda of Tehran and Riyadh,” he said.