Iran’s President Expresses Readiness to Visit Saudi Arabia

During a press conference tis Monday, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said he is ready to visit Riyadh to improve Saudi-Iran relations.

During a press conference held in Tehran this Monday afternoon, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with hundreds of reporters from different countries across the world to answer their questions on several issues.

On Saudi Arabia, the president of Iran said that he is willing to improve Iranian-Saudi relations, calling the two nations “brothers” and adding that he would visit Riyadh when the opportunity presented itself.

Monday’s press conference was he first time Pezeshkian met with reporters since taking office in July. Speaking of the possibility of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Tehran, the Iranian president said “we are brothers, so there is no place for hostility. I welcome any move that can solve the differences between Muslims.”

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed back in March 2023 when China brokered a deal between the two neighboring countries to restore diplomatic ties and revive a 2001 security cooperation agreement. Before that time, Tehran and Riyadh were at odds for more than seven years due to a number of political tensions.

Though the deal initiated by Beijing led to both Iran and Saudi Arabia reopening their embassies, relations between the two nations is still fragile as there has been little to zero progress in the economic and business arenas.

Pezeshkian rejected claims about Iran delivering hypersonic missiles to Houthis

Iran’s president then addressed Saudi Arabia’s recent concerns about Iran delivering hypersonic missiles to the Houthis, asserting that “Yemenis are capable of building their own weapons.”

Saudi Arabia rebuked Iran on Monday for allegedly arming the Houthis with hypersonic missiles, one of which hit inside Israel in the early hour of Sunday.

Though the Houthis, who control most of Yemen and the capital Sanaa, said the missile was a hypersonic one, the Israeli military denied it was hypersonic.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemen government opposing the Houthis, believes Iran has been arming the group, including with the weapons used in the attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Those attacks have led to a halving of the traffic on the Red Sea route, pushing up the costs of maritime transport.

Pezeshkian, however, denied all the allegations on Monday and instead, expressed reassuring words that Tehran and Riyadh can further develop the scope of cooperation on various fields. It seems now that the ball is in the Kingdom’s court and we should wait for a response from Riyadh on whether the oil-rich Saudi Arabia accept Pezeshkian’s call for stronger ties between the two countries or not.