Iranian President Raisi Invited to Riyadh by Saudi King

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Riyadh. TASS reports this, referencing Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy head of political affairs in the Iranian president's office.

“King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, in a letter addressed to President Raisi welcoming the agreement on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two brotherly countries, has officially invited him to Riyadh and called for strengthening economic and regional cooperation,” he stated.

According to him, the Iranian side has accepted the invitation from the Saudi monarch. On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore diplomatic relations and to resume the work of embassies within two months. Representatives of both countries held negotiations in Beijing for several days, resulting in a trilateral statement.

Relations between Riyadh and Tehran had deteriorated in March 2015 with the start of a military operation by a Saudi-led coalition against the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen. Diplomatic relations between the two countries soured in January 2016.