Iran set to reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran is set to reopen its embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday and its consulate in the port city of Jeddah a day later, months after the two regional rivals restored diplomatic ties after a seven-year gap.

The announcement was made on Monday by Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, three days after the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met on the sidelines of a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in South Africa.

Kanaani said the embassy and consulate as well as Iran's representative office at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will resume their operations in line with agreements reached between the two sides.

He said the embassy and consulate are already active in facilitating procedures for Iranian pilgrims and now the diplomatic missions will be formally reopened in the presence of officials of the two countries.

The two Persian Gulf neighbors agreed to revive ties in March after two years of marathon talks brokered by Iraq and Oman. The breakthrough finally came in Beijing.

The agreement was followed by a high-profile meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in April, who formally agreed to reopen diplomatic missions in the two countries.

In the last few months, multiple delegations have exchanged visits to prepare for the formal reopening of diplomatic missions. Saudi Arabia is also reportedly set to reopen its diplomatic missions in Iran.

Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad in 2016 after an angry mob attacked them following the execution of a prominent Saudi Shia cleric.

Late last month, Iran appointed senior diplomat Alireza Enayati its new ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Enayati, who headed the Persian Gulf department at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, previously served as Iran's envoy to Kuwait.

Iran has in recent months stepped up efforts to normalize or upgrade diplomatic ties with regional countries in line with the Ebrahim Raisi government's “neighborhood-centric" foreign policy.

The rapprochement with Saudi Arabia has also paved the way for efforts to resume Tehran’s ties with Bahrain and Egypt, two key Saudi allies.