TEHRAN – Iran has appointed a new ambassador to Kuwait, who will arrive in the Arab country soon, Fars News reported on Sunday. 

The newly-appointed ambassador, Mohammad Totonchi, will replace the outgoing ambassador Mohammad Irani, who has been Iran’s envoy to Kuwait since September 2018. 

Totonchi has previously served as the head of the Persian Gulf Bureau at the foreign ministry and Iran’s chargé d'affaires in Oman.

After Iran and Saudi Arabia severed relations in January 2016 due to the attack on the Saudi embassy and consulate general in Iran, the Kuwaiti government recalled its ambassador from Tehran in accordance with Saudi Arabia and reduced the level of its diplomatic relations with Iran. 

The government of this country appointed its new ambassador in Tehran in August of last year after about six years.

In March, Ali Bagheri Kani, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs, called for expanding political dialogue with Kuwait. 

Bagheri Kani made the comments at a meeting with Mansour Ayyad Alotaibi, the deputy foreign minister of Kuwait.

Emphasizing the need to continue dialogue in all political, economic, consular, and cultural spheres, he referred to the comprehensive efforts to enhance ties between the two nations within the context of the Iranian government's initiative to strengthen connections with neighbors.

Bagheri Kani also called for hastening the implementation of bilateral agreements and highlighted the positive relationship that exists between the two countries.

Ayyad Alotaibi, however, complimented the Iranian government’s neighborhood policy and alluded to the shared and historical links between the two states.