Saudi, Iranian defense officials meet in Moscow

Senior defense officials from Saudi Arabia and Iran met on Wednesday on the sidelines of a security conference in Russia.

Talal Al Otaibi, an aide to the Saudi defense minister, met with Aziz Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, during the sidelines of the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, according to a post by the Saudi defense ministry on the social media platform X.

This follows the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran, brokered by China in March, after seven years of no formal ties.

Al Otaibi also held separate meetings with defense officials from Russia, China and Pakistan, according to photos shared by the Saudi defense ministry on X.

During the meetings, the officials reviewed bilateral relations in the defense and security fields, as well as ways to improve them, the ministry said.

The Moscow Conference on International Security, organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, was attended by 26 defense ministers and 16 deputy defense ministers and chiefs of general staff from various countries, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.