Authorities from Saudi Arabia and Iran are consulting and cooperating to pave the way for the reopening of their respective diplomatic missions, an Iranian diplomat said, IRNA reports.
Director General of Iran's Foreign Ministry Office for Persian Gulf Affairs Alireza Enayati told IRNA on Monday that the Islamic Republic is hosting a delegation from Saudi Arabia, adding that the Saudi diplomats visited Tehran and then traveled to the holy city of Mashhad on Friday with the aim of inspecting their consulate in the city.
As said before, they are going to return to Riyadh and then another Saudi delegation will visit Iran to discuss the issue of reopening their embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad, he noted.
The restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries has already been declared, and we are seeking to pave the way for make the diplomatic missions back on track, he said, hoping that the Saudi embassy and consulate would be reopened in Iran before May 9, which is the two-month time limit.
He also said that due to the Hajj pilgrimage, we try to reopen the diplomatic missions in Iran before the important Islamic ritual in order to facilitate issues concerning the Iranian pilgrims.
Touching on the potential simultaneity of the reopening of Saudi and Iranian embassies, he said that this is a technical issue, which has not been decided on yet; however, we may reach a consensus with Saudi Arabia in upcoming negotiations to make a decision on reopening the diplomatic missions simultaneously, but any of the embassies, which is ready to reopen before the two-month threshold, can kick off its job.
