Saudi king, crown prince receive letters from Iranian president

September 14, 2023

- Letters stress improving bilateral ties, according to Saudi state media

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received letters from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi separately, which stressed the development of bilateral relations, Saudi state media reported on Thursday.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the letters were handed to Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji during his meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Riyadh Alireza Enayat.

The report said that their meeting addressed the "means to enhance them (bilateral ties) in a way that serves joint interests."

The letter is the last in a series of such acts in their rapprochement steps which was crowned by exchanging ambassadors early this month.

Iran and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties in January 2016 after the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad were attacked by mobs following the execution of a Saudi Shia cleric.

They started fence-mending talks in April 2021 with the mediation of Iraq and Oman and the marathon talks resulted in a breakthrough in the Chinese capital Beijing in March this year.