Gulf states congratulate Iran's new reformist president

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, which restored ties with Tehran last year following a years-long rift, on Saturday congratulated Iran's new president-elect, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

King Salman, in a message to Pezeshkian, expressed hope for the "continued development of relations which link our two countries and our two brotherly peoples," according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

He also expressed his wish for further "coordination and dialogue to strengthen regional and international peace and security," SPA said.

After a seven-year rupture, Sunni Muslim-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran resumed relations under a surprise China-brokered deal announced in March last year.

The deal's ramifications were felt throughout the region.

Since then the two Middle East powers, which have often supported opposing sides in regional conflicts, have intensified their contacts.

Iran's ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi travelled to Riyadh in November for a summit on the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Raisi's death in a helicopter accident in May led to Iran's early presidential election, in which Pezeshkian defeated his ultraconservative challenger Saeed Jalili in a runoff.

The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, wished success to Pezeshkian and said he looks "forward to working together to further strengthen ties between the UAE and Iran for the benefit of our two nations and peoples."

The emirs of Qatar and Kuwait sent cables of congratulations to Pezeshkian, official media reported.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah wished "more prosperity and development" for the Islamic republic, the official KUNA news agency said. - AFP