Iran and Saudi Arabia to convene again in Baghdad soon, Abdollahian says

Shafaq News/ Iran and Saudi Arabia will hold another round of talks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, under the auspices of the Iraqi Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said on Monday.

Abdollahian's statement came during a joint press conference he held with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

"We held detailed talks regarding the issues related to the bilateral ties," he said, "we are adamant about activating Shalamcheh-Basra railway as soon as possible because it contributes to boosting the transportation of passengers and freight between both countries."

Abdollahian expressed satisfaction with the U.S. combat forces' withdrawal from Iraq and called for upgrading the Judicial cooperation in the case of the assassination of the Commander of the. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

"Today, we exchange views on the latest developments on the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 4+1 group in Vienna, the recent updates in Afghanistan, and the Counter-Terrorism activity in Syria and Iraq."

On the talks with Saudi Arabia, he said, "we have a set of negative and positive points...last week, Riyadh approved granting entry visas to three of our diplomats to work in the Organization of ISIS Cooperation."

"Soon, we will participate in the next round of negotiations with Saudi Arabia, which will be held in Baghdad thanks to the efforts of the Iraqi Prime and Foreign Ministers," he added, "we put forth a set of practical and constructive proposals in the last round. The delegations of both countries will convene soon in Baghdad, and they will work to implement the next phase of the treaties."

Iran's top diplomat said that his country is ready to exchange technical delegations in preparation for restoring normal ties, " we have to wait and see."

On Vienna talks, he said, "we managed to agree upon a single document and a single timetable in the last round of talks."

"The approach of some European countries, including France, was not constructive in the last round. We expect the French side to play a constructive role at this stage."

"The three European countries did not put forward a new initiative...we were able to obtain a verbal approval from all the parties on the proposals Iran made in the draft to be discussed next week."

"We declare that we will continue the talks with goodwill to reach a good agreement. We hope the other side will engage the talks with the same approach."