Diplomat: Iran, Saudi Arabia to reopen embassies by 9 May

Iran and Saudi Arabia will reopen their embassies in each other’s countries by 9 May, a senior Iranian diplomat said yesterday.

Alireza Enayati, director for Persian Gulf affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told state news agency IRNA that Tehran and Riyadh are set to reopen their embassies.

“The embassies of the two countries are scheduled to reopen within two months of concluding the Iranian-Saudi agreement, and the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers will meet during this period,” he said.

Enayati added that a Saudi technical delegation visited Iran last week and inspected their embassy in Tehran before heading to Mashhad to inspect the Saudi consulate there. The visit came after two delegations from Iran visited Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has not issued a statement regarding when its embassy in Tehran will reopen.

On 10 March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations and the reopening of embassies within two months, following Chinese-sponsored talks in Beijing. This brought to an end seven years of political estrangement.

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