TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday the promotion of bilateral ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia will effectively enhance regional cooperation and help resolve the problems of the region.
He made the remarks in a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Iran Abdullah bin Saud al-Anzi in the Iranian capital Tehran to receive his credentials, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office.
Raisi described Iran and Saudi Arabia as two "major and important regional countries," highlighting the diplomatic efforts to tap into the two countries' capacities to strengthen fruitful bilateral ties and safeguard the interests of the regional states.
He said "the lack of solidarity among Muslim countries and their failure to adopt a united position in defense of the Palestinian civilians and against Israel's decades of oppression have led to the long-standing conflict."
He stressed the importance of the exchange of capacities among Muslim states to meet each other's needs and eliminate the need for the foreign parties' presence and interference, which is "a factor to further complicate the issues" in the region.
For his part, the Saudi envoy described Riyadh-Tehran ties as very strong, saying the two peoples' links and commonalities outweigh their differences.
He expressed hope that bilateral relations and cooperation would improve and expand day by day.
The Saudi envoy arrived in Tehran in early September a few hours after the arrival of Iranian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati in Riyadh.
In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached in China's Beijing a groundbreaking agreement to resume diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and missions within two months.
On April 6, the two countries officially announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early 2016 in response to attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric.
