SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Saudi and Iranian officials plan to meet again this month though no date has been set, Reuters cited Middle East officials and sources as saying.
Financial Times reported on Sunday that senior officials from Saudi Arabia and Iran held direct talks in Baghdad on April 9.
Neither Riyadh nor Tehran, who cut diplomatic ties in 2016, have publicly confirmed or denied a first meeting in Iraq earlier this month.
Iran’s envoy to Baghdad, however, welcomed Iraqi mediation to mend ties with Gulf states.
“The April meeting was a very constructive meeting during which many issues, mainly the Yemen crisis, and Iran’s nuclear deal were discussed,” an official in the Middle East told Reuters.
The official and two regional sources said further talks could happen before the end of the month but the timing depended on progress in Vienna negotiations, according to Reuters.
A foreign diplomatic in Riyadh said a second meeting is expected in late April or early May.
The pro-Iran Lebanese newspaper, al-Akhbar, said a new round of talks would be held in Baghdad next week, following a “very positive” first meeting, according to the Associated Press.
The talks, which proceeded after the Iraqi prime minister visited Riyadh, are being led by Saudi intelligence chief Khalid Humaidan and Saeed Iravani, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Reuters reported.
Financial Times reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi facilitated the process, who held talks with Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh last month.
One of the officials told Financial Times that the first round of talks included discussions about the Houthi attacks and that they were positive.
Reuters cited a regional official as saying the Iranian side promised to use Tehran’s influence to halt Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and in return requested that Riyadh support the nuclear talks.
Saudi Arabia and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 2016 and have been engaged in several proxy wars in the region as they vie for influence.
A senior Iraqi official also told the FT that Baghdad had also facilitated “communication channels” between Iran and Egypt, and Iran and Jordan.
