Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian announced on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has appointed a new ambassador to Tehran.
Two months after a reconciliation agreement was brokered by China to end a seven-year rift between the two countries, Amirabdollahian told IRNA that “Saudi Arabia introduced its new ambassador to Tehran yesterday,” and that Iran will soon name its new ambassador to the Saudi government.
Under the terms of the agreement signed on March 10, both countries agreed to appoint new ambassadors and reopen their embassies within two months. “My colleagues have been working for weeks to prepare the embassy and consulate for reopening,” said Amirabdollahian.
The meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on April 6 marked the first such meeting in seven years and emphasized the need to implement the China-brokered agreement. The detente has been lauded by both sides as having the potential to ease tensions in the Middle East.
Diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran were severed by Saudi Arabia in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, angered by the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr by the Saudi government, stormed its embassy in Tehran.
