Bahrain Mirror: In a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, in Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim Al-Araji said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had officially asked him to facilitate bilateral talks between Tehran and Riyadh, Arabic-language Al-Sumaria television channel reported.

Al-Araji added that he had informed the Saudi side of Iranians' opinion that the first step to be taken to ease tensions between Tehran and Riyadh was that Iranian Hajj pilgrims were treated with respect, and allowed to visit Jannat al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina.

The Iraqi interior minister further noted that Saudi officials had agreed to the demands and gave assurances that Jannat al-Baqi' was open to Iranians. Al-Araji stressed that Iraq believes in the need for friendly relations between Tehran and Riyadh, because they contribute to the promotion of security across the Middle East.

For his part, Iran's interior minister, stated that respect for Iranian pilgrims was very important to Tehran, underlining that Iran had always sought to cement its relations with Saudi Arabia and had not preempted in severing ties with the kingdom.

Mutual ties deteriorated when Riyadh executed prominent Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in January 2016. Saudi Arabia unilaterally severed its diplomatic ties with Iran after protests in front of its diplomatic premises in the cities of Tehran and Mashhad against Nimr's execution.

Arabic Version