On Saturday, the Saudi technical team arrived in Tehran to prepare for the reopening of the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran…reports Asian Lite News
After a seven-year hiatus, the gates of Iran’s embassy in Saudi Arabia were opened, indicating that the process of fully restoring diplomatic relations between the two nations is gaining momentum.
The diplomatic mission opened hours after the Iranian Foreign Ministry said a technical delegation had arrived in the Kingdom to oversee the work, Arab News reported.
“In accordance with the implementation of the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the resumption of diplomatic activities … the Iranian technical delegation arrived in Riyadh at midday Wednesday and was welcomed by Saudi officials,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said.
On Saturday, the Saudi technical team arrived in Tehran to prepare for the reopening of the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran and consulate general in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a deal in March to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions in the two countries within two months.
In a meeting in Beijing on April 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud signed a joint statement announcing the practical resumption of official diplomatic relations.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 in response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shia cleric.
Iran eyes $1bn annual trade
Iranian Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said his country aims to raise annual trade volume with Saudi Arabia to $1 billion in the first step of resuming economic ties.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Khandouzi said the target was set by the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) of Iran and is based on the two countries’ capacities.
The Minister said over the past few days, the TPO has been preparing a roadmap for developing economic relations with Saudi Arabia, adding that it will be finalized soon.
Khandouzi said given that Iran and Saudi Arabia are both seriously determined to resume bilateral interaction and cooperation, the launch of the joint chamber of commerce is on the agenda.
He stressed that during the past years, the two countries have held a total of seven meetings of the joint economic commission and exchanged 20 trade and cooperation documents with each other.
The Finance Minister said the two countries have had no bilateral trade in some years, but last Iranian year, amid the two countries’ efforts to ease tensions, the value of Iranian exports to the kingdom reached $15 million.