Saudi - Iranian ties new phase: minister

Iran-Saudi Arabia bilateral cooperation has entered a new chapter, said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to the kingdom, Mohammad Hosseini, on Sunday.

The minister stressed that consistent contacts between Iranian and Saudi officials as well as an invitation by King Abdullah to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to perform the annual Hajj rituals were clear indications of promotion and deepening of Tehran-Riyadh relations.

"Iran and Saudi Arabia can turn to a proper model for the rest of the Islamic world through cooperating with each other and with the help of other regional states," al-Naimi stressed.

He urged the Muslim nations to make major scientific and technological progress.

Meanwhile, the Iranian ambassador said that Iran and Saudi Arabia "have many motives to promote all-out bilateral ties, particularly in the fields of oil, energy and mining." Hosseini stressed that Iran and Saudi Arabia could help solve problems facing the world of Islam by establishing strategic ties.