TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister said Saturday that his country and Sudan have agreed to resume bilateral relations in the near future, reported Xinhua.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf held after their talks in Iranian capital Tehran earlier in the day, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

He was commenting on a meeting with Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq on the sidelines of a meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement held in the Azberjani capital Baku earlier this week, the first of such meeting between the two countries’ top diplomats since Sudan and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 2016.

Tehran and Khartoum prepared to agree upon a framework and make necessary steps for resuming the diplomatic ties and reopening embassies at each other’s capitals in the near future, he told reporters.

On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian tweeted that he and al-Sadiq touched upon “imminent” resumption of diplomatic ties during the Baku meeting.

At the press conference, the Iranian minister said the Sudan conflict is a common concern of Tehran and Algiers, noting that both Iran and Algeria called for a ceasefire between the Sudanese warring parties and dialogue to settle the conflict.

Sudan severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 following Saudi Arabia’s move to cut ties with Tehran in the same year.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early 2016 in response to attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric.-Bernama