Saudi army chief in Iran on rare visit

Saudi military chief visits Tehran for talks on defense cooperation, including potential naval exercises.

TEHRAN:

Saudi Arabia's top military official arrived in Tehran on Sunday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported, in a rare high-level meeting since the countries restored ties last year.

Fayyad al-Ruwaili, chief of staff of the Saudi armed forces, met his Iranian counterpart "General Mohammad Bagheri at the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters" in the capital, the official news agency IRNA reported.

"The development of defence diplomacy and the expansion of bilateral cooperation are among the main topics of this meeting," it added. The Fars news agency said that at the meeting, Bagheri noted increased security cooperation between the two countries.

"We would like the Saudi navy to join Iranian naval exercises next year, either as participants or observers," Fars quoted Bagheri as saying.