ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia are expected to hold a fresh meeting in Baghdad soon, a member of the Iranian parliament told an Iranian news outlet on Tuesday, adding that an initial agreement has been reached, following years of bad blood between the two countries.
Javad Karimi Qudusi, an Iranian MP, told the semi-official Fars News on Tuesday that Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud are expected to meet in the capital of Iraq “in the near future.”
“In this meeting, bilateral issues and the opening of embassies, as well as regional issues, especially the Yemeni crisis, will be discussed,” Fars News cited Karimi as saying, noting that Tehran and Riyadh had reached an initial agreement.
Shiite-majority Iran and the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia support rival sides in several conflict zones across the region, including in Yemen, where the Houthi rebels are backed by Tehran, and Riyadh leads a military coalition supporting the government.
In 2016, Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed revered Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Riyadh responded by cutting ties with Tehran.
In April, Baghdad hosted the fifth round of talks in the past year between Tehran and Riyadh aimed at restoring ties.
Iraq’s foreign minister Fuad Hussein stated in an interview with al-Jazeera in April that the meetings were conducted “peacefully”, and that the two countries reached an agreement on a 10-point memorandum of understanding related to bilateral cooperation and internal and regional security matters.
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