Saudi Embassy in Tehran to Reopen After Eid al-Adha

Following the visit of Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Foreign Minister, to Iran, Al Arabiya reported that the Saudi embassy in Tehran will officially begin operations after Eid al-Adha. According to the Saudi network, both the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad will start their activities officially after Eid al-Adha. Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Tehran on Saturday, June 17, for an official visit and met with Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in a joint press conference after their meeting in Tehran, which was accompanied by some controversies. In this joint press conference, Amir-Abdollahian expressed happiness over Prince Faisal bin Farhan's visit to Tehran, approximately 100 days after the Iran-Saudi agreement, adding that during this time, ambassadors from both countries have been introduced and administrative procedures for their establishment in the capitals are underway. Amir-Abdollahian thanked Saudi Arabia for its assistance in reopening the Islamic Republic's diplomatic missions in the country and stated that Iran has also provided the necessary measures and facilities for the reopening of Saudi diplomatic missions. The Saudi Foreign Minister also mentioned that 'mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of both countries and commitment to the UN Charter' will be at the center of bilateral relations considering the national interests of both countries. Prince Faisal bin Farhan also referred to 'discussions between the two countries regarding cooperation on ensuring maritime security and reducing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.' Before the press conference began, some Iranian news agencies reported that Faisal bin Farhan refused to stand in a location where a photo of Qassem Soleimani was behind him, and the press conference was held in another hall. However, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry deemed the media speculations regarding the change of location for the talks between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia as 'baseless.' Nasser Kanani attributed this change to 'technical problems and the impossibility of execution' at the previously designated location. This is the first visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister after the severance of relations between the two countries in 2015. Diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were cut off in January 2016 following the attack on the Saudi embassy and consulate in Iran. Tehran and Beijing reached an agreement last March in Beijing, mediated by China, to restore relations and reopen embassies within two months after several rounds of negotiations in Iraq and Oman. Recently, on June 6 and 7, the Iranian embassy in Riyadh and the consulate general and representation office of Iran at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah were officially opened with the presence of Alireza Beikdeli, Deputy for Consular Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Iranians Abroad, and Saudi officials. The foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia met once in Beijing and again in Cape Town after the two countries agreed to resume bilateral relations at the end of March. Last week, Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated regarding the reopening of Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran: 'We will soon witness the visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister to Tehran, and based on the preliminary steps taken by the Saudi delegation in Iran, we believe that we will soon see the opening of the Saudi embassy and consulate in Iran.' In recent days, some media in Iran reported that one of the floors of the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran is being allocated to Saudi Arabia to use for its embassy affairs until the embassy building is operational. The Saudi embassy building in Tehran was set on fire and destroyed in an attack eight years ago, and Saudi officials have stated that they currently cannot use the embassy building, which is why the embassy will be located in the hotel until the building situation is resolved. The evacuated Saudi embassy building in Tehran was located in the Niavaran area (northeast of the capital).