Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a press conference in Damascus on October 5, 2024. (Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP)
The Iranian Foreign Minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, according to a Saudi state media outlet, to discuss efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The Al-Ekhbariya channel posted a video of Abbas Araghchi being received by his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The Iranian Foreign Minister is in Riyadh "to coordinate with the countries of the region on how to end the genocide and aggression of the Israeli regime and reduce the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Lebanon," said the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaïl Baghaï, on X earlier.
Mr. Araghchi had visited Lebanon and Syria last week to discuss with officials, calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
After weakening Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli soil triggered deadly hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Israel is now waging an open war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, expressed support for his country's political class's efforts "primarily for a ceasefire."
An international 21-day ceasefire proposal for Lebanon, launched from the U.N. in September, has been ignored by Israel, which has intensified its strikes on the country and conducted ground incursions in recent days.
Israel warns that it wants to push Hezbollah away from the southern Lebanon border areas, one of its strongholds, and stop its rocket fire to allow the return to northern Israel of tens of thousands of displaced residents.
In Lebanon, more than a million people have been displaced by the violence.
Mr. Araghchi's regional tour comes as Israel, Tehran's sworn enemy, said it is preparing a response to the Iranian missile attack launched in early October on its territory.
On Tuesday, the Iranian diplomat warned Israel against any attacks on its "infrastructures," amid concerns about possible Israeli strikes targeting the country’s nuclear or oil sites.
Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed diplomatic relations in March 2023 after a seven-year break, under a China-negotiated agreement.
The two Middle East powers, which have long supported opposing factions in the region, have increased contacts since.
In November, the former President Ebrahim Raisi, who passed away in May, made the first visit by an Iranian head of state to the Gulf kingdom in 20 years to attend an Arab-Islamic summit focused on the war in Gaza.
