By Syed Zafar Mehdi
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Tehran resumed its operations earlier this week after more than a seven-year hiatus, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.
The state agency cited an unnamed “official source” in the Foreign Ministry as confirming that the Saudi Embassy in the Iranian capital resumed its work “three days ago.”
In June, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan during his visit to Tehran announced that the Saudi Embassy will be reopened soon, but stopped short of specifying the exact time.
During the visit, Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed on forming joint political and economic committees to pursue common interests.
Iran and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties in January 2016 after the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad were stormed by angry mobs following the execution of a Saudi Shia cleric.
The two estranged neighbors started tension-easing talks in April 2021, brokered by Iraq and Oman. After nearly two years, the breakthrough was reached courtesy of China.
Iran reopened its embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh and the consulate and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) mission in the port city of Jeddah in early June.
It came weeks after Alireza Enayati, a senior diplomat and former Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, was appointed as the new Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.