An Iranian flag is flying outside the Vienna International Centre hosting the United Nations Headquarters and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on July 3, 2014. Since President Ebrahim Raisi took office in 2021, the relations between Iran and Gulf Arab states have seen a breakthrough, according to an Iranian diplomat.
Iranian Foreign Ministry undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs Ali Reza Enayati said in an interview with official news agency IRNA that Iran and Saudi Arabia have taken positive and constructive steps towards resolving their differences.
He also mentioned the earlier dispatch of Iranian representatives to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation OIC in Saudi Arabia, where their cooperation with the OIC was facilitated by Saudi officials.
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The Iranian official hoped that further negotiations between the two major regional Muslim states would pave the way for participation of Iranian pilgrims in the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia sever diplomatic relations with Iran in early 2016 in protest against the attacks on its diplomatic missions in Iran after the execution of a Shiite cleric. Relations further soured during the Yemeni civil war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally-recognized government supported by the Saudi-led coalition.
Enayati said that Raisi's February visit to Qatar, during which 15 Memoranda of Understanding were signed, and the president's upcoming trip to Oman are signs of an improvement in Iran's relations with Gulf Arab states.