MOSCOW: Talal Al-Otaibi, Saudi Arabia’s assistant minister of defense, met with a senior Iranian defense official on the sidelines of the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security. 

In pictures posted by the Saudi Ministry of Defense Twitter account, Al-Otaibi was seen in a meeting with Aziz Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, along with delegations from both countries.

Al-Otaibi headed the Saudi delegation at the security conference, where he met with senior officials and heads of delegations from different countries.

“During the meetings, he reviewed bilateral ties with different countries and explored ways to enhance partnerships in defense and security fields,” the ministry said in a tweet.

Held in Moscow, the annual security conference brings together ministers, military leaders and defense policymakers from all over the world to discuss the most pressing global and regional security issues.

As part of the efforts to strengthen relations between both countries, Iran foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is visiting Riyadh on Thursday at the official invitation of his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.