BAGHDAD: Iraq has said it is preparing to host a “public” meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia as the two rivals seek to mend ties.

Since April last year, Iraq has hosted five rounds of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which support opposing sides in various conflicts around the region. Those encounters were held privately and at a low level, involving security and intelligence officials.

On Saturday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said his Iranian and Saudi counterparts would be meeting in Iraq at an undisclosed date. “I contacted the foreign minister of Iran about this,” Hussein said in an interview with Kurdish TV channel, Rudaw.

“We are preparing the meeting, trying to find the best time to invite the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“It will be a public meeting, (unlike) previous encounters which were secret and were held between intelligence and security officials,” the FM said.

His comments came days after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Iranian state television that his country and Saudi Arabia were ready to move reconciliation talks to a higher level.

Mr Amir-Abdollahian earlier on Thursday said that “progress” had been made at previous rounds of talks between security officials hosted by Iraq. Last week Iran had received a message from the Iraqi foreign minister who said, “The Saudi side is ready to move the talks to the political and public level”.

He also expressed the hope that new negotiations would lead to the resumption of “normal diplomatic ties”.

Riyadh had severed ties with Tehran after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in 2016 following the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2022