Iranian speaker welcomes dialogue with Saudi Arabia

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has welcomed Saudi Arabia's proposal for holding talks to resolve mutual issues, Tasnim news agency reported.

"We welcome (Saudi Crown Prince) Mohammed bin Salman being quoted as saying he wants to resolve issues through talks with Tehran," Larijani said on Tuesday.

He said any dialogue between Iran and Saudi Arabia could help solve many security and political issues in the region, Xinhua reported.

On Sunday, Crown Prince Mohammed reportedly said that he would prefer a political and peaceful solution to a military one to resolve its disputes with Iran.

On Monday, Ali Rabiee, spokesman for Iranian government, confirmed that Saudi leaders had sent messages to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani through the head of a third state for holding negotiations on mutual issues.

Besides, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Iran is open for holding dialogue with Saudi Arabia to settle mutual issues and talking with regional states to set up a coalition for the security of the region.

Tensions have been rising between the two rivals since Sept. 14 when two major Saudi oil facilities were attacked and forced it to cut half of its oil exports.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the United States and Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for behind the attacks. Iran has repeatedly denied the charges, while warning that any attack on the Islamic republic could spark a regional war.

( With inputs from IANS )