Iran says it is ready to restore normal relations with Saudi Arabia if latter wants

TEHRAN, Dec. 21 (YPA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Wednesday said that his country welcomes the return of normal relations with Saudi Arabia, if Riyadh is ready for that.

In his statements Wednesday, on the sidelines of the end of his visit to Jordan to participate in the “Baghdad 2” conference, Abdollahian indicated that “whenever the Saudis are ready to return to the normal state of relations, we welcome that.”

He added, according to the Iranian news agency “Tasnim”, “It was not the Islamic Republic of Iran that cut off diplomatic relations. Saudi Arabia is the one that took this decision. Whenever the Saudis are ready to return to the normal state of relations, Iran welcomes that.”

The Iranian minister revealed, in a tweet, a meeting he had with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on the sidelines of the “Baghdad 2” summit.

Abdollahian said, on his Twitter account, that “the Saudi foreign minister assured him of Riyadh’s readiness to continue dialogue with Iran,” noting that he also met on the sidelines of the meeting, the foreign ministers of Oman, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait.

YPA