A week after China helped broker a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, their foreign ministers formally met in Beijing after seven years of estrangement.
Saudi Arabia’s state-run broadcaster Al Ekhbariya released footage on Twitter on Thursday, showing Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan shaking hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian with flags of their respective countries seen behind.
Both foreign ministers then headed into a meeting hall where they sat down in wide armchairs and chatted.
In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore relations and reopen diplomatic missions within at least two months after a years-long acrimony that raised tensions in the Gulf region and deepened conflicts from Yemen to Syria.
AFP said the two foreign ministers discussed steps towards reopening their embassies and consulates, citing Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.
Earlier, China helped bring the two sides together and broker the landmark agreement.
Saudi Arabia cut formal ties with Iran after protesters attacked Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions in various Iranian cities in 2016 following Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr – one in a series of flashpoints between the two longstanding regional rivals.
