Saudi Arabia, Iraq FMs discuss Saudi-Iran delayed talks

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iraq have discussed the reasons for the delay in holding the fifth round of Saudi-Iranian talks in Baghdad, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein spoke on the phone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, and discussed bilateral relations as well as delays in holding the talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.

The statement added that the Iraqi foreign minister stressed during the phone call that “the Iraqi government will make every effort and invest all its relations to create an appropriate opportunity for the understanding between Tehran and Riyadh.”

According to the statement, the two ministers have stressed the need to continue communication during this sensitive period.

READ: Iraq, Iran prepare 5th round of Riyadh-Tehran negotiations

In late January, the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, announced that Tehran would hold a fifth round of talks with Saudi Arabia “soon”.

Riyadh and Tehran severed relations in 2016 after protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in response to the kingdom’s execution of Shia cleric Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr.

Nearly six years later, Tehran and Riyadh held four rounds of direct dialogue between them, under the auspices of the Iraqi government.

The last round of talks were held in September in Baghdad, between the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al-Jubeir, and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.