DHAKA: A senior Iranian official is in Saudi Arabia to try to repair strained relations between the regional rivals in the Gulf.

Iranian media reported Tuesday, says TDS.

Deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian flew to the desert kingdom Monday to meet foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and discuss ‘matters of common interest’, the reports said.

No further information was immediately available about the trip, the first by a high-level official from Shia Iran to Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia since Hassan Rouhani became the Islamic republic’s president in August last year.

‘It is a step towards improving relations between Tehran and Riyadh,’ Iran’s financial daily Donya-e Eghtessad wrote.

Amir Abdollahian had visited Riyadh in June, but that was for a meeting of the Saudi-based Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

BDST: 1538 HRS, AUG 26, 2014