Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday that embassies in Saudi Arabia and Iran will be opened “within days”.

Amirabdollahian did not give specific dates for the reopening of the embassies in the two countries, which agreed to restore relations in March.

High-ranking security officials from both countries had met last month in Beijing under Chinese auspices and, to the utter shock of most followers of global politics, announced that they were re-establishing diplomatic relations that had been severed after a series of events in 2016.

The deal was announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing between top security officials from the two rival Middle East powers.

It was sealed when the foreign ministers of both states met again in Beijing, earlier this month.

Subsequently, delegations from the two countries visited the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad to launch the process of their reopening.

The leaders of the two countries have also extended invitations to each other to visit.

Riyadh broke off relations with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr — one in a series of flashpoints between the long-time foes.