Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Friday described Tehran-Riyadh ties as “not good” and said Iran was not responsible for the situation but it was ready to hold the fifth round of talks with Saudi Arabia.

The ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia are faced with challenges and we try hard to keep the doors of dialogue between the two nations open, Amirabdollahian said in an interview with Lebanon’s Almayadeen TV.

He noted that it was Saudi Arabia that cut ties with Iran while Tehran has friendly relations with many Arab nations, including Kuwait and the UAE.

Iran’s top diplomat also said that contradictory behavior of Saudi Arabia like executing 81 people affected its relationship with Tehran and Iran wouldn’t forget death of 460 Iranian nationals in the Mina tragedy.

On the war in Yemen, Amirabdollahian underlined that Yemeni’s defending their sovereignty is an issue of their own business, but Iran welcomed putting an end to the war and the blockade against Yemeni nation.

He dismissed the notion that whatever happens in Yemen is related with Iran.

On the relations with Egypt, Iran’s foreign minister said that Tehran’s policy was to strengthen ties with Cairo in a balanced manner, as there were common points with Egypt on which the relations could be based.

Amirabdollahian noted that the Israeli regime was in a very weak position and suffered from a host of problems, stating that Palestinians’ Seif al-Quds battle against the regime proved the weakness of the Israeli society.

He also condemned the trilateral meeting between officials from Egypt, the UAE and the Israeli regime, noting that Iran considered any meeting with Israeli officials as a betrayal of Palestinian people.

end item*