Iran says talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia resumed in Baghdad
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[April 23, 2022]
(Reuters) -
Rival regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia
resumed talks in the Iraqi capital after they were suspended in March,
Iran's semi-official Nour News reported on Saturday. |
![](../images/042322pics/news_w51.jpg)
An Iranian protester holds up a street sign with the name of Shi'ite
cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration against the execution
of Nimr in Saudi Arabia, outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran
January, 3, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA |
There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia or Iraq on the
resumption of the talks.
"The latest positive meeting has raised hopes for the two
countries to take steps toward the resumption of ties,” said
Nour News, which is affiliated with the country's Supreme
National Security Council. It did not say when the fifth round
of talks were held.
Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters
stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the
execution of a Shi'ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Iran suspended the talks in March without giving a reason for
the decision that came as a new round of negotiations was due to
start. The move came after Saudi Arabia executed 81 men in its
biggest mass execution in decades. Tehran condemned the
executions that activists said included 41 Shi'ite Muslims.
Predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran, which
are locked in proxy conflicts around the region, started direct
talks last year to try to contain tensions.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed opposing sides in regional
conflicts and political disputes in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq for
years, and Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition waging war
against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
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