Saudi, Iranian foreign ministers meet in Beijing

Beijing, The Gulf Observer: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud met with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Beijing, China for the first formal meeting of their most senior diplomats in more than seven years, Saudi state TV has reported.

Short videos posted on Al-Ekhbariya’s Twitter showed the two diplomats standing side-by-side before greeting each other and shaking hands before sitting down.

Saudi Arabia and Iran early last month agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies following years of uneasy tension between the two countries, in talks brokered by China.

Riyadh and Tehran also agreed to activate the security cooperation agreement signed in 2001 and the trade, economy and investment agreement signed in 1998, according to the trilateral statement issued on March 10.

The agreement to renew ties was signed by Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban and Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani.