Saudi armed forces chief visits Iranian counterpart for rare meeting 

Saudi Arabia’s top military official has visited Tehran for talks with Iranian officials in a rare high-level meeting since the countries restored ties last year, Iran’s state media reported,

General Chief of Staff Fayyad al-Ruwaili of the Saudi armed forces met his Iranian counterpart, General Mohammad Bagheri, at the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters in Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

“The development of defence diplomacy and the expansion of bilateral cooperation are among the main topics of this meeting,” it added.

The country’s Fars news agency said that Bagheri called for increased security cooperation between the two countries at the meeting.

“We would like the Saudi navy to join Iranian naval exercises next year, either as participants or observers,” Fars quoted Bagheri as saying.

Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the phone, Iranian media said.

Pezeshkian told the crown prince he would not be able to attend a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh due to his busy schedule, and would be dispatching the Iranian first vice president as a representative, the Mehr news agency said

Tohid Assadi, an Iranian affairs expert, told Al Jazeera that the meeting between the two armed forces chiefs could be considered a step forward in Iran-Saudi relations.

“This visit also takes place after the election of [Donald] Trump in the US, who promised peace in [the Middle East]. However, the possibility of tensions ramping up is still here. So Iran and Saudi Arabia are indeed trying to make sure that everything is on the right track,” Assadi said.

“They’re trying to build a sort of confidence when it comes to collective action against collective threats,” he added.

Tehran and Riyadh severed ties in 2016 after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shia Muslim leader Nimr al-Nimr.

The two countries have also long backed opposing sides in regional conflict zones, notably in Syria and Yemen.

In March 2023, the two nations agreed, via Chinese intermediation, to re-establish relations after seven years of hostility.

In November 2023, Iranian state media reported that Bagheri had held a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, to discuss regional developments and improve defence cooperation between the two countries.