Saudi defense minister visits Iran in highest-level trip in decades as nuclear talks proceed
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud arrived in Tehran on Thursday, in a rare visit by a senior Saudi royal to the Islamic Republic.
Prince Khalid will meet with Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Iranian news outlet ISNA reported, adding that 'developing defense relations and regional cooperation to strengthen peace and stability in the region, as well as combating terrorism, are among the topics of discussion between the two senior defense officials.'
It has been decades since a senior Saudi royal last visited Iran: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz did so in 1997, when reformist President Mohammad Khatami was in office. Prince Khalid is the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The Saudi-Iranian meeting comes as Tehran engages in talks with the United States to reach a new nuclear agreement, amid threats by the US and Israel to strike Iran's nuclear facilities if negotiations fail. Iran has warned that any attack on its territory could ignite a broader regional war. The US maintains a military presence in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states neighboring Iran.
The two officials 'will hold a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations and issues of common interest,' state-run Saudi Press Agency said.
Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. They then spent years fighting a proxy war that has embroiled a number of neighboring countries, especially Yemen.
In Yemen, the two countries had supported opposite sides of a civil war, which led to Iran-backed Houthi rebels firing missiles at both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, targeting oil infrastructure that is vital to their economies.
Ties began to thaw two years ago, and both states eventually signed a landmark normalization deal brokered by China.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf Arab states, have been wary of getting embroiled in Iran's conflict with Israel and the United States.
Last year, after Iran exchanged strikes with Israel, Gulf Arab states expressed concern to the US about a potential attack by Israel on Iranian oil facilities, which could create economic and environmental impacts for the entire region. Iran publicly warned that any parties seen as aiding Israel would be treated as aggressors.
Sources familiar with matter told CNN at the time that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar had told both the US and Iran that they would not allow Israel to use their airspace to strike Iran.
In October, Saudi Arabia and Iran conducted their first ever joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman, according to Iranian media, and in November, the chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, visited Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart, state media reported.
CNN's Alireza Hajihosseini and Matog Saleh contributed reporting.
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