IRANIAN President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran is ready to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

“From Iran’s point of view, there is no problem in developing ties with neighbors and resuming relations with Saudi Arabia,” said Rouhani during a meeting with visiting Omani Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Alawi in Tehran.

“All the regional countries should stay together in order to create peace and stability in the region,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.

The Iranian president said that Iran’s Hormuz Peace Initiative is aimed at bringing regional countries together to create stability.

“We should establish security in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz through expanding our cooperation and preventing foreign powers to interfere,” he added.

Rouhani disclosed the initiative at the recent meeting of the 74th U.N. General Assembly.

On Tuesday, Rouhani said that “Saudi Arabia’s policies in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon failed to bear fruits.” He urged the Saudi authorities to change their course of action vis-a-vis regional countries.

Rouhani noted that Iran and Saudi Arabia need to look ahead to solve regional problems through cooperation. The two foes have long fought in a proxy war in Yemen and their religious differences have sharpened the conflicts between Tehran and Riyadh in recent years.

Tensions escalated between the countries in the past few months when Saudi Arabia’s two major oil processing facilities were attacked from the air in September. More than half of the world’s largest oil exporter’s output was cut off because of the attack.

Houthi insurgents, a Yemeni group, claimed responsibility.

The United States then accused Iran of being behind the incident. (SD-Agencies)