Saudi Arabia to invest 'quickly' in Iran: Finance Minister

 

Following an agreement to reestablish diplomatic ties, investments by Saudi Arabia in Iran might occur "quite soon," according to Mohammed Al Jadaan, the country's finance minister.

Despite years of negotiations between the two nations in Iraq and Oman, a pact to heal relations was publicly mediated by China last Friday.

“There are numerous chances in Iran for Saudi investments. As long as the conditions of any agreement are upheld, we don't see any obstacles,” Mr. Al Jadaan remarked on Wednesday at the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh.

The government of Saudi Arabia said last week that the country's GDP had risen to more than $1 trillion, setting new records amid a rise in oil prices.

International trade restrictions have harmed Iran's economy for decades; they were only momentarily lifted as part of a deal between Tehran and foreign powers to rein down its nuclear programme.

Yet, as the nation's oil minister Javad Owji noted earlier this month, oil shipments have increased significantly.

The country brought in roughly $58 billion in revenue this month, just shy of their expected fiscal break-even requirement of about $60 billion, according to the International Energy Agency.

“We have always said that Iran is our neighbour and that we have no interest in having a conflict with our neighbours, if they are willing to cooperate,” Mr. Al Jadaan later stated in an interview with Reuters. “Stability in the region is very important, for the world and for the countries in the region.”

Concern over Iran's attempts to arm proxy forces, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraqi militias, has grown among regional nations as well as among the US and its allies in the west.

As a result, both China and the US have praised measures to ease tension.

After its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two nations over Riyadh's killing of a prominent Shiite Muslim preacher, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016.

Iran has also been held responsible by the monarchy for attacks on tankers in Gulf waters as well as missile and drone strikes on its oil facilities in 2019.

Iran has refuted the accusations.