Iran Favors Amity with Neighbors: Top Security Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani described Tehran’s participation in the talks with Saudi Arabia as part of a policy pursuing cooperation and amity with the neighbors.
“Iran's active participation in bilateral talks with Saudi Arabia -hosted by Iraq- stems from our strategic outlook which calls for cooperation & amity with neighbors in view of securing bilateral & regional interests,” Shamkhani said in a post on his Twitter account on Saturday.
“Don't forget: The Zionist regime is the Islamic world's enemy,” he added.
Representatives of Iran and Saudi Arabia have held several rounds of talks in Baghdad in recent months.
Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh soured following the January 2016 execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy, in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh cut ties with Tehran afterwards, responding to attacks by angry protesters on its embassy in the Iranian capital.
Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen as well as the death of hundreds of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in a deadly crush in Saudi Arabia’s Mina in September 2015 had prepared the ground for the deterioration of tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.
