SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Officials from Iran and Saudi Arabia have held a new round of talks in Baghdad, AP cited two Iraqi officials as saying.
The meeting held last week discussed “pending issues between the two countries according to a previously agreed on roadmap, including diplomatic representation between the two countries,” one Iraqi official told The Associated Press.
The meeting was not on a ministerial level, the official said, but he described the talks as position, according to AP.
Iran and Saudi Arabia, leading Shia and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have been rivals for years, backing allies fighting proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. They cut diplomatic ties in 2016.
Iran confirmed publicly for the first time in May that it was in talks with Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them, according to Reuters.
On Sept. 22, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met officials from Saudi Arabia and Gulf and Arab states on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Iraq, which has been trying to mediate between Tehran and its Gulf Arab foes, chaired the meeting at its ambassador’s residence in New York, Mehr said.
Baghdad hopes its mediation will stop neighbors settling scores on Iraqi territory.
