Tag: Regional Rivals

TEHRAN/ANKARA:  Diplomatic efforts to break the ice between longtime regional rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have intensified in recent months, with officials of both sides citing progress in talks brokered by Iraq. Four rounds of talks have been held in Baghdad since April to ease tensions that first sparked in January 2016 following attacks on two Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad triggered by the execution of a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia. There is already a buzz about the two sides agreeing to reopen consulates as a first...