Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Tehran on Saturday, according to both Saudi and Iranian media.
The trip is an important step in the reconciliation process between Saudi Arabia and Iran that began earlier this year. China helped broker a deal between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince is meanwhile on a trip to France and Iran’s President recently travelled to South America.
Iran officially reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia on June 7.
The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in retaliation for Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
Re-building relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia
The visit by Bin Farhan is seen as very important in the Gulf and Iran. He is going to meet with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian and Iran’s president, reports at Al-Arabiya said.
“The Saudi minister is expected to officially inaugurate the kingdom’s embassy, later on Saturday, in the capital. Both nations reopened their diplomatic missions in recent weeks,” Arab News reports.
The reopening of the embassy is important and is part of a wider thaw in the region. Iranian diplomats have already returned to the Iranian embassy in Riyadh.
The shift comes amid many other moves in the region
France has also reached out to Iran’s President and is trying to help solve the presidential crisis in Lebanon, where numerous votes in parliament have not resulted in a new president being elected.
Meanwhile, the Arab League has welcomed Syria’s return after more than a decade. This signals a wider new era of diplomacy in the region. This replaces decades of conflict, such as the US-led war on terror and the threat of ISIS. However groups like ISIS remain a threat and there are still destabilizing forces, such as Iranian-backed militias. Iran is keen to use those militias and terror groups, such as Hezbollah or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to threaten Israel.
The Saudi foreign minister's trip will be watched closely in the region. It is already being monitored by media in the Gulf and also Iranian pro-government media such as Fars News and other media such as Al-Mayadeen.