Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirbadollahian said on Friday that Saudi officials were the first to cut ties between the two countries.
Amirbadullahian told a news conference in Beirut that the whole region has benefited from good relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“The Iran-Saudi dialogue is in the right direction and we need more dialogue,” he said. “We were not the first to break ties with Saudi Arabia; the decision was made by the Saudi authorities. We consider the dialogue between the two countries to be constructive.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia, the major Shia and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have been rivals for years, backing allies fighting proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. They broke off diplomatic relations in 2016.