Saudi foreign minister to visit Iran on Saturday: Iranian media

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is expected to arrive in Tehran on Saturday for his first official visit to Iran since the two regional rivals severed ties seven years ago.

The chief Saudi diplomat will meet with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials during his one-day visit, according to Iranian media reports.

Amir-Abdollahian, who is currently accompanying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on a three-nation tour in Latin America, will return to Iran on Saturday.

The two foreign ministers have held two meetings at neutral venues since Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic ties in a China-mediated deal in March.

The first meeting was held in Beijing in April when the two sides formally agreed to reopen diplomatic missions, followed by another meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in South Africa in May.

Iranian media said bin Farhan will announce the reopening of the Saudi Embassy and consulate in Iran, which were closed after an angry mob stormed them in January 2016 following the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr Al-Nimr.

There was no confirmation yet of bin Farhan’s visit to Iran by Saudi authorities.

Iran reopened its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia -- the embassy in the capital Riyadh and the consulate and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation mission in the port city of Jeddah -- earlier this month.

It came weeks after Iran appointed Alireza Enayati, a senior diplomat and former ambassador to Kuwait, as the country’s new envoy to Saudi Arabia.

The reopening of Iran's diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia capped two-year-long efforts mediated by Iraq, Oman, and China to help the two Persian Gulf neighbors restore ties.