Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is due to visit Iran on June 17, reportedly to reopen the Kingdom’s embassy, Iranian state media have claimed. Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi has been more circumspect, stating on June 15 that “measures in that direction” will take place in response to a question about whether the Saudi embassy will finally open.

‘Embassy’ at a Tehran hotel?

As Amwaj.media has previously reported, Saudi officials have over the past month or so been operating from a luxury hotel in the Iranian capital. This is because the embassy, damaged in the 2016 storming by Iranian protesters which precipitated Riyadh’s cut in ties with Tehran, has yet to be fully repaired.

One informed political source said the Saudi embassy is going to be reopened at a hotel temporarily. The Kingdom’s diplomatic compound in Tehran is not expected to be ready for operations until...