TEHRAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met here on Thursday with visiting Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

During the meeting, the Saudi minister relayed a message from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Khamenei, said a statement published on the website of the Iranian top leader, without elaborating.

When addressing bilateral relations, Khamenei said that "the two states can complement one another" and called on the two sides to overcome existing challenges posed by "hostile motivations" to expand bilateral ties.

Prince Khalid, for his part, expressed pleasure at being received by the Iranian leader and hoped that his talks with Iranian officials during the ongoing visit would prepare the ground for strengthening bilateral relations.

The Saudi minister, who arrived in Tehran earlier on Thursday, also met with Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri to discuss bilateral defense relations. During the meeting, both sides agreed that deepening bilateral cooperation would contribute to the security and interests of the two countries and other regional states, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran and Saudi Arabia formally declared in April 2023 the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early 2016 in response to attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. The attacks followed Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shiite cleric. Enditem

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