In a bid to repair relations between the two regional rivals, four years after they cut off diplomatic ties, senior Saudi and Iranian officials have held direct talks. Iraq’s prime minister visited Saudi Arabia late last month.
The report comes as Washington and Tehran try to revive a 2015 nuclear accord to which Riyadh had been opposed and as the United States presses for an end to the Yemen conflict, seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The first round of Saudi-Iranian talks took place in Baghdad on April 9, included discussions about attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group and were positive, the FT report added, citing one of the officials.
Saudi Arabia and its allies supported former US President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to quit the world powers’ nuclear agreement and reimpose sanctions on Tehran, which responded by breaching several restrictions on its nuclear activities.
A Saudi foreign ministry official told a news agency last week that confidence-building measures could pave the way for expanded talks with Gulf Arab participation.