Iran says 'no progress' in Saudi talks

Iran’s Foreign Ministry yesterday announced there was “no progress” in talks with Saudi Arabia.

“There has been no new development in Tehran’s talks with Riyadh,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, told reporters, adding that his country was hoping for the recently-signed joint agreements to “be implemented.”

Khatibzadeh pointed out that the two countries had discussed the Yemen conflict “despite the existence of disagreements on this file.”

Earlier this year, direct talks began between Tehran and Riyadh in an effort to achieve reconciliation after decades of regional rivalry, with Iraq announcing in August that it had hosted a series of secret dialogues. Jordan also announced that it hosted some of the talks and the United States has expressed its support for the efforts.

Riyadh severed relations with Tehran in 2016, after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia.

Both countries have, for years, been in disputes over regional conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. But tensions escalated after Saudi Arabia led an Arab military coalition in 2015 to wage war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.

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