TEHRAN: Saudi Arabia’s top military official arrived in Tehran on Sunday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported, in a rare high-level meeting since the countries restored ties last year.
Fayyad Al Ruwaili, chief of staff of the Saudi armed forces, met his Iranian counterpart “General Mohammad Bagheri at the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters” in the capital, the official news agency IRNA reported.
“The development of defence diplomacy and the expansion of bilateral cooperation are among the main topics of this meeting,” it added.
The Fars news agency said that at the meeting, Bagheri noted increased security cooperation between the two countries.
“We would like the Saudi navy to join Iranian naval exercises next year, either as participants or observers,” Fars quoted Bagheri as saying.
In March 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed relations under a surprise China-brokered deal.
Tehran and Riyadh had severed ties in 2016 after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr.
The two countries have long backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, notably in Syria and Yemen.
