Iran: Resuming Relations with Saudi Arabia Shows Effectiveness of Diplomacy

UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday (EPA)
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday (EPA)
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Iran: Resuming Relations with Saudi Arabia Shows Effectiveness of Diplomacy

UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday (EPA)
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday (EPA)

After the recent announcement of the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, Iran is hailing diplomacy as an effective solution to settle disputes.

“The resumption of political relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia shows the effectiveness and success of diplomacy as a solution to settle differences,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani.

“Fortunately, with the positive atmosphere that we are witnessing in the region, this positive development [the deal with Saudi Arabia] can happen in connection with other regional countries as well, including Bahrain,” he added.

In support of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain had severed its relations with Tehran after an attack on the Saudi embassy in January 2016.

According to Kanaani, Iran hopes to resume relations with Bahrain after the rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh.

“We should further trust the path of diplomacy and take steps in this direction,” he explained.

When asked on whether the Yemeni crisis was raised during negotiations with Saudi Arabia, Kanaani dodged the question and said that talks dealt with bilateral relations.

“Iran will not conduct proxy negotiations on behalf of any country, unless it is asked to play a positive role in an issue,” he explained.

Furthermore, Kanaani said Iran is ready to play a “positive” role in meeting the UN’s request to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

Kanaani’s comment had followed another question about talks that UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg held with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday.

Fadahossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian parliament's influential committee on national security and foreign policy, told state-owned “ISNA” that “the closer Iran gets to the neighboring countries and the region, the more we can solve our problems with their help.”

“This agreement is a good omen. We look forward to greater steps to be taken to remove obstacles,” added Maleki.



Russian Troops Push into Ukraine’s Sumy Region

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Russian Troops Push into Ukraine’s Sumy Region

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia said on Sunday that its troops had taken the village of Basivka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, and were battering Ukrainian forces at a host of settlements in the area.

More than two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv sent thousands of troops over the border into Russia's Kursk region in August last year though a Russian offensive over recent months has pushed most of Ukrainian forces out of Kursk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested that Russian forces carve out a buffer zone along the border.

Russia's defense ministry said that it had taken the village of Basivka, just over the border from Sudzha, and had struck Ukrainian forces at 12 other points in the Sumy region.

Ukrainian officials later denied the report, saying Russian forces were not in control of Basivka.

"As of today, the Russians do not control Basivka in Sumy region. They are trying to run in there in assault groups and look for cellars in order to gain a foothold, but the enemy is being destroyed," Andriy Kovalenko, an official of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram messenger.

"The fighting in the Sumy region border area is complex and continues daily in several areas, and is also taking place in the Kursk border area," he added.

Russia's defense ministry also said that Russia had defeated Ukrainian units in the Russian settlements of Gornal, Guevo and Oleshnya.

The pro-Ukrainian DeepState war map shows Ukraine in control of about 63 square kilometers (24 square miles) of Russian territory, down from as much as 1,400 square kilometers claimed by Kyiv last year.

Another 81 square kilometers of territory along the border - including Basivka - is classed by DeepState as of "unknown" control.

Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, and most but not all of four other regions which Moscow now claims are part of Russia - a claim not recognized by most countries.

Russia controls all of Crimea, almost all of Luhansk, and more than 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to Russian estimates. It also controls a sliver of Kharkiv region.