Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi prays during a commemoration ceremony for the late Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, and the late Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the capital Tehran on Jan 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

TEHRAN - A senior Iranian political official said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia's king has invited Iran's president to visit Riyadh.

Mohammad Jamshidi, deputy chief of staff for political affairs to the Iranian president, made the remarks in a post on his Twitter page, saying the invitation was extended to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in a letter.

He added the Saudi king said in the letter that he welcomed the recent deal between the two "brotherly countries" on the normalization of bilateral ties and called for strong economic and regional cooperation between Riyadh and Tehran.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to arrange visits by technical teams to prepare the ground for sending diplomatic missions and reopening embassies

Raisi welcomed the invitation and stressed Iran's readiness to expand cooperation, noted Jamshidi.

Foreign ministers to meet soon

On the same day, the Iranian foreign minister said at a press conference in Tehran that he will meet his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in the near future.

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Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to arrange visits by technical teams to prepare the ground for sending diplomatic missions and reopening embassies.

He also noted that Iran's relations with Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were upgraded to the level of ambassadors, and the bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia returned to normalcy after five rounds of fence-mending talks in Baghdad and other negotiations hosted by Beijing.

On the likeliness of improvements in Iran's relations with Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain following the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, the minister said Tehran recently sent its delegation to Manama to visit the Iranian embassy as well as other diplomatic places there.

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Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Iran welcomes the normalization of relations with neighboring and regional states, expressing hope that the existing obstacles to normalizing ties with Bahrain would be removed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein during his visit to Baghdad, Iraq, Feb 22, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

Iran maintains that Egypt is an important country and welcomes any improvement in bilateral relations, he noted.

Amir-Abdollahian said he held brief talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership in Jordan last December, after which negotiations were held with Egyptian officials on improving bilateral political relations.

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During the same conference, Amir-Abdollahian said he also held friendly and cordial talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan, in which the latter expressed willingness to visit Iran in the near future.

China, Saudi Arabia and Iran on March 10 announced that the latter two had reached a deal that included the agreement to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions within two months.