Iran’s interim Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, has stressed Tehran’s determination to expand relations with Riyadh and described as ‘progressive’ the Islamic Republic’s ties with Saudi Arabia.

During a telephone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Friday night, Bagheri Kani extended his gratitude to Saudi authorities for the facilities and services provided to Iranian pilgrims during Hajj rituals. 

He hailed the recent face-to-face meeting with Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed al-Khereiji in Tehran on the sidelines of the 19th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial meeting, terming the current state of diplomatic relations between the two countries as “promising.”

The senior Iranian diplomat also shed light on the ongoing Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

“The Zionist regime’s threats against Lebanon are in line with its crimes against Gaza’s population. The ill-thought-out occupying Israeli regime is trying to make up for its defeat in Gaza by expanding the scope of war and crimes to other regions,” Bagheri Kani said.

He then called upon all Muslim states to employ all their capacities to put an immediate end to Israeli crimes, threats and acts of aggression in Gaza and elsewhere in West Asia.

For his part, bin Farhan expressed satisfaction over the meeting and negotiations between Saudi and Iranian officials on the fringes of the ACD meeting in Tehran, stating that Riyadh-Tehran relations are favorably consolidating.

Moreover, Baqeri Kani and bin Farhan delved into further development of comprehensive relations between their respective countries and exchanged viewpoints on recent regional developments and other issues of mutual interest and concern.

In March last year, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed under a Chinese-brokered deal to restore diplomatic relations severed in 2016.