TEHRAN - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asserted on Monday that efforts to reestablish ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia will advance regional security.

Raisi made the comment during a meeting in Tehran with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

“The initiatives offered and measures taken by Iraq to improve cooperation among regional countries free from foreign meddling play an effective role in bolstering regional collaboration,” Raisi said, praising Iraq's contribution to favorable regional developments.

Raisi emphasized that a fulfillment of agreements made during the five rounds of talks between Tehran and Riyadh, which were mediated by Iraq, would open the way for future growth of the two sides' relations.

“Reestablishment and further bolstering of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will be in the interest of the regional security,” Iran’s president pointed out. 

Raisi also highlighted the need for dialogue between rival factions in Iraq, suggesting that only through conversation amongst all political groups based on the nation's constitution and with the aim of establishing a new administration political stability will return to Iraq.

Hussein, for his part, praised Iran for its consistent assistance in helping to stabilize Iraq and declared that his country will keep working to strengthen Iran's ties with Saudi Arabia.

The top Iraqi diplomat added that since last April, Iraq has hosted five rounds of negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran at the level of intelligence and security officials.

Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian praised Iraq's constructive contribution to regional dialogue, saying there had been progress in the past five rounds of negotiations with Saudi Arabia.

Amir Abdollahian stated that he has informed Iraqi mediators that Tehran is prepared for a new political and security round of talks with Riyadh, expressing optimism that the step would “eventually lead to return of relations between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran to normal.”

After Iranian protestors stormed Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran in response to the Saudi murder of senior Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with Iran in January 2016.

Later, the kingdom pursued a belligerent foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic, particularly under the previous U.S. administration of Donald Trump, with whom the Saudi rulers had close connections.

Saudi Arabia appears to have suddenly reversed position, indicating a readiness to heal wounds with Tehran and reestablish bilateral contacts through diplomatic channels.

The two neighbors remain severely opposed on a number of regional problems, most notably Saudi Arabia's disastrous war in Yemen.