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.



10 Dead as Landslide Hits Passing Cars on Indonesia's Java Island

Rescuers search for victims after a rain-triggered landslide hit passing cars on a road in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Rescuers search for victims after a rain-triggered landslide hit passing cars on a road in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
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10 Dead as Landslide Hits Passing Cars on Indonesia's Java Island

Rescuers search for victims after a rain-triggered landslide hit passing cars on a road in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Rescuers search for victims after a rain-triggered landslide hit passing cars on a road in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Indonesian rescuers recovered 10 bodies after a landslide struck vehicles on a hilly road on the country’s main island of Java, police said Friday.
Torrential rains pushed mud, rocks and trees down the mountainside road on Thursday, burying a van with seven people aboard and a pickup truck with three traders and full of vegetables near Watu Lumpang, a resort area in East Java’s Mojokerto district, said local police chief Andi Yudha Pranata.
According to The Associated Press, Pranata said rescuers pulled out the body of the van’s driver late Thursday and his six family members, including three children, wife and parents, were retrieved on Friday, together with the bodies of the three traders.
Footage released by East Java’s Search and Rescue Agency showed the road covered by thick mud, rocks and uprooted trees.
Seasonal rains from about October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.