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Saudi Crown Prince meets Iranian president for first time

The meeting took place on the sidelines of an extraordinary joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh

DUBAI, November 11. /TASS/. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for the first time since the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in March 2023.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of an extraordinary joint summit of the Arab League (LAS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy chief of staff for political affairs to Iran's president, said on his X (formerly Twitter) that the two sides held "important talks about the situation in Palestine." He said that the Saudi crown prince also "stressed his intention to strengthen ties with Iran."

On March 10, Tehran and Riyadh agreed to restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies within two months. Relations between Riyadh and Tehran escalated in March 2015 with the start of the Saudi-led coalition's military operation in Yemen against the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement. Following attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad in January 2016 by crowds of protesters angered by Riyadh's execution of Shiite preacher Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the country severed diplomatic ties with Iran.

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