BEIJING (Agencies): Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume flights at a meeting between the kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Beijing on Thursday.
The move marked a major step after the pair agreed to restore diplomatic ties last month.
They will also “facilitate” the issuing of visas for each other’s citizens and both private and state bilateral visits will resume, according to the full joint statement released by Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The process of reopening embassies and consulates will now begin and will take up to two months, said the statement following the signing of a joint communique.
Prince Faisal renewed his invitation for Mr Amirabdollahian to visit the kingdom. The Iranian Foreign Minister in return extended an invitation to Prince Faisal to visit Tehran for a bilateral meeting, the statement said.
The kingdom’s official state television broadcast a brief video on Twitter of the meeting in Beijing showing the leaders greeting each other with a handshake before sitting down side-by-side.
This is the first official meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia’s most senior foreign ministry officials since ties were severed seven years ago.
The leaders will follow up on a deal brokered by China last month to reconcile relations between both sides and reopen embassies.
The meeting highlights China’s increasing influence in the region, one that is being monitored by the US.
Saudi state media said the delegations met for “expanded” bilateral talks to discuss “important issues”.
In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about several issues.
Mr Amirabdollahian and Prince Farhan are expected to have a separate meeting with Chinese counterpart Qin Gang later in the day.
The meeting comes as Iran confirmed it had accepted an invitation for President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh. It was not announced when this would take place.
Following the announcement to restore relations, Tehran and Riyadh said they will also reinstate a security agreement signed nearly two decades ago.
The agreement stipulated co-operation on terrorism, drug smuggling and money laundering, as well as to revive a trade and technology deal from 1998.
Experts believe the move will reduce the chance of armed conflict between the former rivals, directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.
In 2016, Riyadh severed ties with Tehran after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in the kingdom. It was only one of many issues between the long-standing rivals.
However, since April 2021, the two sides have held five rounds of negotiations in Baghdad.
