Iran Vice President: Raisi Accepts Invitation to Visit Saudi Arabia

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi (not pictured) in Tehran on March 4, 2023. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi (not pictured) in Tehran on March 4, 2023. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
TT

Iran Vice President: Raisi Accepts Invitation to Visit Saudi Arabia

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi (not pictured) in Tehran on March 4, 2023. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi (not pictured) in Tehran on March 4, 2023. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber revealed that President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted an invitation to visit Saudi Arabia.

He made the announcement hours after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held telephone talks on Sunday.

The FMs discussed the future steps that will be taken after the Kingdom and Iran agreed to normalize relations through a China-mediated deal.

Mokhber told Iran’s Mehr news agency that the presidency’s “main strategy is improving relations with regional countries.”

The rapprochement is not a “coincidence” but a product of planning “that should have taken place at the right moment, and this is what’s happening.”

Riyadh did not comment on the report on Raisi’s invitation.

Saudi Arabia and Iran announced in March that they had agreed to restore their diplomatic ties. The move was widely welcomed on the regional and international scenes.



Saudi Arabia Welcomes Ceasefire Agreement in Gaza

TT

Saudi Arabia Welcomes Ceasefire Agreement in Gaza

Saudi Arabia welcomed on Thursday the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and expressed its appreciation for the efforts exerted by the states of Qatar, Egypt and the United States in that regard, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Kingdom emphasized the importance of upholding the terms of the agreement, halting Israeli aggression against Gaza, and ensuring the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza and all other Palestinian and Arab territories. The Kingdom further called for the safe return of displaced persons to their homes.
The Kingdom also stressed the importance of building on this agreement to address the root causes of the conflict by enabling the Palestinian people to claim their rights, foremost among them is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Kingdom expressed hopes that the agreement would permanently end this brutal Israeli war, which has claimed the lives of more than 45,000 people and injured more than 100,000.