Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdoulahian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, on March 19, 2023, to communicate the annual report on the accomplishments and further work with respect to national foreign policy. AFP
Elham Azad, part of an Iranian parliamentary delegation that traveled recently to Bahrain to attend the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), said she had held talks with the chairman of the Bahraini National Assembly about restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On his part, the top Bahraini lawmaker stressed the need to strongly address regional issues with closer coordination between Bahrain and Iran, Azad said.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi received an invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to visit the kingdom following the reconciliation deal between the two countries, an Iranian official said.
The two regional heavyweights announced on March 10 a Chinese-brokered deal to restore ties seven years after they were severed.
Riyadh cut relations after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in 2016 following the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr -- just one in a series of flashpoints between the two longstanding regional rivals.
The deal is expected to see Iran and Saudi Arabia reopen their embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation deals signed more than 20 years ago.
In the same vein, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that Tehran hopes to take steps towards the normalization of ties with Bahrain, state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, revealing that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting between their top diplomats.
He added that three locations for the talks had been suggested, without specifying which.
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