The Kremlin welcomes all the steps taken by Iran and Saudi Arabia that help reduce tensions in the region and aim to resume dialogue, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
"We welcome any steps that can and will help reduce tensions and intensify dialogue in the region, in a very unstable region. Especially when it comes to such key regional players as Saudi Arabia and Iran," Peskov said.
Relations between Riyadh and Tehran deteriorated in March 2015 with the start of a Saudi-led coalition military operation in Yemen, where a standoff between government forces and the Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement has been ongoing since August 2014. In January 2016, after the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashhad were attacked by crowds of protesters outraged by the execution in Riyadh of prominent Shiite preacher Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the kingdom broke off diplomatic relations with Iran.
On March 10 of this year, it was announced that Iran and Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement to restore diplomatic relations and that there were plans to reopen embassies within two months.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Robert Pastryk/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS