ANKARA 

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman arrived in Tehran on an official visit Thursday for talks with Iranian officials.

In a post on his X account, Prince Khalid said he met with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during which he conveyed a message from King Salman.

“We discussed our bilateral relations and topics of mutual interest,” he added.

Khamenei confirmed the meeting on his X account, without providing details about the content of the letter.

Prince Khalid also met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where they reviewed Saudi-Iranian relations and explored ways to enhance them.

“We also addressed regional and international developments and related efforts,” he added.

Iranian state media said the Saudi minister will explore ways to strengthen regional cooperation and bolster defense relations and counter-terrorism coordination during his visit.

Iranian Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri later announced his country’s readiness to expand defense relations with Saudi Arabia across various fields.

His remarks came during a meeting in Tehran with the Saudi defense minister, where he said that “relations between the Iranian and Saudi armed forces have been growing since the signing of the Beijing agreement.”

Bagheri emphasized that regional security is a “shared strategic interest” for the countries in the area, adding the Islamic Republic’s policy is based on strengthening ties with its neighbors.

“Therefore, expanding and solidifying ties between the armed forces of both countries can lay a solid foundation for broader regional cooperation,” he said, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

He also highlighted the importance of Iranian-Saudi relations, particularly under the current complex regional and international conditions.

Bagheri further affirmed the Iranian Armed Forces’ readiness “to expand bilateral defense relations with Saudi Arabia in various areas of mutual interest.”

The high-profile visit comes ahead of a second round of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program in Rome on Saturday.

Thursday’s visit marks the second by a senior Saudi defense official to Tehran since the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In November 2024, Chief of the General Staff of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili visited Tehran for bilateral military talks.

Diplomatic relations between the two regional powers were restored in March 2023 following China-brokered negotiations in Beijing, ending a seven-year freeze that began in 2016 after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.