SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein held a phone talk with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Sunday to discuss delays of the talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad.
The two ministers discussed issues related to the security and stability of the region and the reasons for the delay in holding the fifth round of Saudi-Iranian talks, a statement released by the Iraqi foreign ministry said.
“Iraqi government will make every effort and invest all its relations to create an appropriate opportunity for the understanding between Tehran and Riyadh,” Hussein was quoted as saying.
Regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties in 2016, launched direct talks hosted by Iraq last year at a time when global powers are trying to salvage a 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran, and as U.N.-led efforts to end a war in Yemen stall, according to Reuters.
Tehran and Riyadh have held four rounds of talks in Iraq, with Baghdad hoping its mediation would stop the neighbors seeking to settle scores on its territory. Saudi Arabia has described the talks as cordial but exploratory, while Tehran says they had gone a “good distance”.
On Saturday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that Tehran was ready for more talks with Saudi Arabia if Riyadh was willing to hold talks in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed opposing sides in regional conflicts and political disputes in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq for years, and Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition waging war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.
