Dubai/Washington. October 15th. INTERFAX - Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Washington and exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear program and international negotiations on this issue, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The minister himself tweeted: "I had a productive meeting with my friend Secretary Blinken, during which we discussed a number of issues of common interest and of interest to both our countries, as well as ways to strengthen our strategic partnership and cooperation in many areas."
The US State Department said in a statement about the meeting that Blinken and the Saudi Foreign Minister "discussed strategic cooperation between the US and Saudi Arabia on regional issues, including the common goal of reaching a solution to end the conflict in Yemen on a long-term basis."
"The Secretary of State reaffirmed the commitment of the US government to assist Saudi Arabia in protecting its territory and people, as well as the fact that the United States condemns the Houthi attacks on the Kingdom," the press service of the State Department noted.
The sides also discussed other regional "and broader issues, including human rights."
From April to June of this year, Iran and a number of world powers held six rounds of talks in Vienna with the aim of restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Currently, the negotiations are on pause: Iranian officials pause: Iranian officials have previously stated that Tehran will be ready to continue negotiations after the inauguration in early August of the new Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and the formation of a new government.
At the end of September, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the new Iranian authorities had not yet announced whether they were ready to resume negotiations in Vienna.
"Iran has not yet agreed to return to the talks in Vienna," he said at a press conference in New York.
Blinken added that the United States, for its part, is ready for these negotiations, but once again warned that this readiness will be limited in time.
