Feb 5, 2022: According to a report by Reuters, Iran is ready for more talks with Saudi Arabia if Riyadh is willing to hold the talks in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect, news agency Fars quoted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as saying on Saturday.

“Iran is ready to continue these negotiations until reaching an outcome, provided that the Saudis are willing to continue the negotiations in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect,” Fars quoted Raisi as saying in a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties in 2016, began direct talks last year, hosted by Iraq, at a time when world powers were trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. And as a UN-led effort to end the war in Yemen has stalled.

In another sign of strained relations, Iran said last month that three Iranian diplomats had arrived in Saudi Arabia to take over the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) headquarters in Jeddah. Tehran and Riyadh have held four rounds of talks in Iraq, and Baghdad hopes its mediation will deter neighbors who want to settle matters on its soil. Saudi Arabia has described the talks as pleasant but investigative, while Tehran say they have gone “well.”

Saudi Arabia and Iran have for years supported the opposing sides in regional conflicts and political conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, and Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition fighting the Iranian-linked Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.

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