Bahdad, Iraq An Iraqi official said Iran and Saudi Arabia began critical talks in Baghdad on Saturday.
“Discussions restarted in Baghdad last Thursday,” the source added, refusing to elaborate.
According to Iran’s Nour news agency, “top officials from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council’s secretariat and the director of Saudi intelligence” were there.
Iran, which has a Shiite majority, backs the Huthi rebels in Yemen, while Riyadh leads a military coalition that supports the government.
In 2016, the kingdom assassinated famed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran.
The Iraqi discussions are the sixth in a year between Tehran and Riyadh.
It is set to happen soon, Nour said, citing the “good mood” of the last meeting, which led to “optimism for the reopening of bilateral relations.”
After Saudi Arabia murdered 81 people convicted of different “terrorism”-related offenses in a single day, including those associated with Yemen’s Huthi rebels, Iranian media announced in March that Tehran had withdrawn from negotiations.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the two nations were “forever neighbors” and that it was “best for both of us to sort it out and find ways to live.”
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, lauded the statements.
“We have divergent perspectives and methods on some problems in the area, but resolving disagreements between the two nations may benefit both nations,” Amir-Abdollahian said at the time.
