• National

    Tehran, Khartoum Look to Restore Ties

    Iran and Sudan said on Thursday they were planning to restore ties after the Iranian foreign minister met his acting Sudanese counterpart for the first time since diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed seven years ago.

    Sudan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the meeting, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, had discussed restoring relations “as soon as possible,” Reuters reported.

    Sudan’s acting foreign minister, Ali Sadeq, also thanked Iran for supplying humanitarian aid during the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted: “Our delegation met with the Sudanese foreign minister and discussed how to imminently resume diplomatic ties between Khartoum and Tehran.”

    In the meeting, talks were directed at resolving misunderstandings between the two countries and strengthening the political and economic relations between Tehran and Khartoum, IRNA reported.

    Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 following the storming of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran.

    Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume ties in March under a deal negotiated by China, raising expectations that Tehran and other Arab countries would fully re-establish diplomatic relations.