A senior security official said on Tuesday Iran is ready for "straight talks" with Saudi Arabia over contentious issues that have negatively affected relations between the two regional powers.
Tehran and Riyadh have backed opposite sides in the Syria and Yemen conflicts and argued over global oil prices.
An Iranian official said this week Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif delayed a visit to Saudi Arabia in protest against Riyadh's refusal to cut crude output and help lift prices.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, a top security aide to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said Iran "is now quite ready for straight, clear and continuous talks spanning the whole range of mutual interests with Saudi Arabia."
"In light of unprecedented human and financial losses caused by sectarian conflicts, (we) need to stop further bloodshed and wage an earnest fight against extremism and terrorism that has found expression in Daesh (Islamic State)", IRNA quoted Shamkhani as saying.
