TEHRAN: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense, Prince Khalid bin Salman, met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Thursday, delivering a letter from King Salman and conveying greetings from the Kingdom’s leadership.
During the meeting, both sides reviewed bilateral relations and discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Khamenei expressed support for closer ties, saying, “Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia will be beneficial for both countries. It is better for brothers in the region to cooperate rather than rely on others.”
This visit marks the first time Khamenei has received a Saudi official since 2006, and the second visit by a Saudi defense minister to Iran since 1979.
Prince Khalid also held separate meetings with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian.
President Pezeshkian noted that Iran and Saudi Arabia could resolve many regional challenges through cooperation, without foreign interference.
Bagheri praised the progress in bilateral ties since the 2023 China-brokered Beijing Agreement and welcomed Saudi Arabia’s position on Gaza and Palestine.
The visit follows a recent phone call between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Pezeshkian, and another between the foreign ministers of both countries.
It also comes ahead of expected U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Rome, which Saudi Arabia has publicly supported as part of efforts to resolve broader regional disputes.
[Reported by Saudi Press Agency]
