Saudi defense minister visits Iran

Saudi Arabia's Second Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz said on Monday that he will visit Iran at the beginning of May.

The Saudi minister did not give more details on the content of talks he will hold in Tehran, but he denied that Riyadh is mediating between the United Arab Emirates and Iran in the dispute over the three Gulf islands. He said, "Eventually we are part of the UAE, therefore we will not be mediators. And we are always with the UAE in everything."

Relations between Tehran and Riyadh have witnessed great improvement since Iranian President Muhammad Khatami assumed power in 1997 and the convening of the OIC summit in Iran at the end of the same year in Tehran.