MESOP MIDEAST WATCH: Saudi Arabia Rejoins Iran Exports Market: Report

ERBIL 18.10.2021 Saudi Arabia has rejoined Iran exports market as tensions between the two countries have slightly decreased lately, a report revealed on Sunday.

Roohollah Latifi, a spokesperson for Iran Customs Administration, confirmed the report in a statement and pointed out that more than 47 million tons of goods worth $22.588 billion have been traded with 15 neighbors during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, which starts on March 21.

This comes around one week after Iran said that tensions between Tehran and Riyadh had warmed and that Iran was ready to resume exports to Saudi Arabia, the state-run Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) said.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have not enjoyed good relations over the past five decades, particularly since 1979 when the Shia revolutionaries came to power in the country.

The continued support of Iran to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in 2016 have also been among other causes for the rocky relations between the two countries.

However, Saudi Arabia has recently expressed its seriousness for discussions with Iran in efforts to restore stability in the region.

Earlier on Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, at a news conference in Washington a day after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urged Washington and Tehran to resume their indirect talks on the nuclear deal in efforts to ensure that Iran not would make further progress on the nuclear program.

“We are committed to continuing these discussions and finding a road to move forward. Our vision for the region aims to achieve prosperity and stability. We hope that Iran shares this view,” he said.