Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (C) speaks to Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi (L) after the signing ceremony for Araghchi's book "The Power of Negotiation" at the Muscat International Book fair on April 25, 2025. (Credit: Haitham al-Shukairi/AFP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, his ministry said, days before U.S. President Donald Trump begins a regional tour.
Araghchi is due to hold talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh before heading to Doha for a conference on Arab-Iranian dialogue, ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear what the talks in Riyadh would cover.
Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 16 on his first major Middle East trip of his second term.
In Riyadh, he is expected to meet leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a source close to the Saudi government told AFP earlier this month.
The visit follows three rounds of U.S.-Iran negotiations over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
A date for a fourth round has yet to be announced.
The talks mark the highest-level contact between the two sides since Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018, during Trump's first term.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would decide how the United States refers to the Gulf, after U.S. media reported he might call it the Gulf of Arabia instead of the Persian Gulf.
Iran condemned the idea, with Araghchi saying any attempt to change the name would reflect "hostile intent toward Iran and its people."