In a press conference with journalists on Sunday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian answered a question on the recent agreement on the restoration of ties between Tehran and Riyadh, saying, "In the political relations with the neighbors, in the middle of this Iranian year of 1401 (which ends on March 20), the relations of the two neighboring countries of the UAE and Kuwait with the Islamic Republic of Iran were enhanced to the level of ambassadors, and in the past days, we witnessed the return of Iran and Saudi Arabia relations to normalcy. We had held five rounds of security talks with Saudi Arabia in Baghdad, and during Mr. Raeisi's trip to Beijing, the President of China had already proposed an initiative, which had been approved by the heads of state of Iran and Saudi Arabia."

He said that in the exchange of messages, the Saudi side stressed the need for a round of high-level security negotiations between the two countries, so as a result, the person introduced by the Saudi side and the counterpart of Rear Admiral Shamkhani and a team consisting of security departments, the military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied Mr. Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart [in the talks.]"

He emphasized, "I will meet with the Saudi Foreign Minister in the near future, until now we have agreed that the technical delegations from both sides will visit the embassies and consulates general and provide practical preparations for the reopening of the embassies."

The foreign minister said that Iran considers the issue of Yemen to be completely an issue related to the Yemenis, adding, "This is an issue that the Yemeni parties should decide on. Of course, the emphasis on peace, stability and sustainable security in the region has been one of the issues agreed upon by Tehran and Riyadh in these talks."

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KI