Posted on 03/20/2023 8:44:22 AM PDT by Cronos
Saudi Arabia has reportedly invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for an official state visit after the two sides agreed to restore ties in a peace deal brokered by China.
Per the BBC, the invitation came in a letter from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, but that has yet to be confirmed by Saudi officials.
A senior Iranian official, Mohammad Jamshidi, tweeted about the invitation to visit the Saudi capital, Riyadh, saying Mr Raisi had welcomed it and "stressed Iran's readiness to expand co-operation".
Separately, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting at foreign minister level, and that three possible locations had been proposed.
He did not name the locations, nor say when the meeting might take place.
The BBC's Middle East Editor, Sebastian Usher, says the recent improvement in bilateral relations, which came unexpectedly following days of talks brokered by China, appears to be building serious momentum.
Both have announced they will reopen embassies within two months and re-establish trade and security relations.
...Mr Amir-Abdollahian also said that Iran hoped steps would be made to improve ties with Bahrain, a close Saudi ally that followed Riyadh in severing diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016.
"We hope that some obstacles between Iran and Bahrain will be removed and we will take basic steps to reopen the embassies," he said.
Bahrain has not responded to the comments, but earlier welcomed the Iran-Saudi agreement to restore diplomatic ties.
Iran has also expressed a willingness to resume or improve relations with other regional Arab rivals, including Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Had nothing to do with it? Trump had Saudi just about ready to join the Abraham Accords. It rook Biden to torpedo that and instigate a Saudi about-face. This is a potentially disastrous development.
This move helps wreck the very laudatory Abraham Accords and is bad for both the great Satan and the little Satan.
I would not be surprised by such an occurrence.
I agree. Too many sanctions create the opposite effect intended (like many government initiatives.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.