Iran, Saudi ministers meet in China to cement reconciliation

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The foreign ministers of Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing on Thursday, Tehran said, paving the way for normalised ties under a surprise China-brokered deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed steps towards reopening the embassies and consulates of the two countries, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The foreign ministers of the Islamic republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia negotiated and exchanged opinions with the emphasis on the official resumption of bilateral relations and the executive steps towards the reopening of the embassies and consulates of the two countries," the statement said.

Saudi state TV Al Ekhbariya also reported that the two ministers held a meeting in Beijing to "discuss implementing the agreement", airing footage of the pair shaking hands in front of Saudi and Iranian flags, and then talking and smiling.

On March 10, Tehran and Riyadh announced the agreement to restore relations severed seven years ago when protesters in Iran attacked Saudi diplomatic missions.

The shock rapprochement between mainly-Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, and Shiite-majority Iran, strongly at odds with Western governments over its nuclear activities, has the potential to reshape relations across a region characterised by turbulence for decades.

During phone conversations in March, the ministers had vowed to meet during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which ends later in April.

Saudi officials had said the ministerial meeting was the next step in restoring ties, and an Iranian statement last week spoke of "the constructive path of relations between the two countries...