Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he is ready to meet
his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly in September, and to visit the Gulf nation later this year.
Zarif's remarks come amid a slight diplomatic warming between Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran, which are fiercely divided over the civil war in Syria and other regional conflicts.
Saudi Arabia invited Zarif to visit in May.
Zarif's deputy Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited Saudi Arabia last week and met its foreign minister, in the highest-level bilateral talks between the two Middle East powers since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, was elected last year.
Zarif also spoke of new penalties imposed by the U.S. over Iran's contested nuclear programme, saying that Iran had the ability "to take measures that wouldn't please the other party (the U.S)."
"So far, we have shown self-restraint in this regard, but if we realise that the other party is abusing our self-restraint, there are grounds for action that we will decide on at a proper time," he added.
Zarif was speaking at a news conference with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Sakari Tuomioja.
Zarif's remarks come amid a slight diplomatic warming between Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran, which are fiercely divided over the civil war in Syria and other regional conflicts.
Saudi Arabia invited Zarif to visit in May.
Zarif's deputy Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited Saudi Arabia last week and met its foreign minister, in the highest-level bilateral talks between the two Middle East powers since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, was elected last year.
Zarif also spoke of new penalties imposed by the U.S. over Iran's contested nuclear programme, saying that Iran had the ability "to take measures that wouldn't please the other party (the U.S)."
"So far, we have shown self-restraint in this regard, but if we realise that the other party is abusing our self-restraint, there are grounds for action that we will decide on at a proper time," he added.
Zarif was speaking at a news conference with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Sakari Tuomioja.
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