Iran defence minister to visit Saudi, envoy says
DUBAI, April 6 (Reuters) - Iran's Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani
will visit Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks as relations between the
two Gulf states improve, the Iranian ambassador in Riyadh said on Thursday.
``I can confirm that the defence minister will visit Saudi Arabia during
the current month of Muharram,'' Ambassador Mohammad Reza Nouri said, referring
to the Islamic month which runs to early May.
He did not give an exact date for the visit.
``The visit follows the improvement of relations between the two countries
in all fields, including this (defence) field,'' he told Reuters by telephone
from Riyadh. ``Relations are improving day by day, and are moving forward.''
He said Shamkhani was expected to meet King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah
and was also expected to hold extensive talks with his Saudi counterpart
Prince Sultan.
During Prince Sultan's visit to Iran last year, the two countries agreed
to exchange military attaches.
Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia have steadily improved since the
election of reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 1997, after years of
mutual suspicion following Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
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