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Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the country is happy how negotiations on bilateral issues have moved forward with Saudi Arabia, emphasizing that the two regional players can establish "sustainable" ties.
Speaking to the IRNA news agency on Thursday, Khatibzadeh said that the Islamic Republic has carried out several rounds of talks with the Saudi government in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, over the past months.
"There have been good talks regarding bilateral issues," he added. "There has also been very serious progress in negotiations concerning the security of the Persian Gulf."
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The spokesman said that the negotiations have not stopped and that messages have been exchanged between the two sides at an appropriate level after Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi took office.
"We think that we can have a stable and good relationship between the two important countries in the region, i.e., Iran and Saudi Arabia, if the government of the Saudi Kingdom pays serious attention to a message from the Islamic Republic of Iran, which says the solution to the problems in the region lies within the region itself and we must reach a comprehensive regional mechanism."
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said that he hopes Riyadh's direct dialogue with Tehran will build confidence.
Khatibzadeh to #SaudiArabia: A comprehensive mechanism is needed to ensure a stable and good relationship between #Iran and #SaudiArabia. https://t.co/qTtgosvkrH
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 23, 2021
"Iran is a neighboring country, and we hope that our initial talks with it will lead to concrete results to build confidence ... based on... respect of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs," he said in a pre-recorded video address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The two countries' delegations have so far held three rounds of talks in Baghdad, while a fourth-round has been postponed to a time convenient for both sides.
Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, infuriated by the Saudi execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, attacked its embassy in Tehran.
For years now, the Saudi government has pursued an aggressive foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic, yet recently it appears to have changed course.
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