Saudi FM: Hold Iran accountable for nuke programme

Iran must be held "accountable for its activities" and held to its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud made the remarks during a joint press conference with the Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna.

The Saudi foreign minister said he was worried about IAEA reports regarding "issues that are not being resolved, questions that are not being answered."

The current agreement between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog is set to expire on June 24.

A new interim agreement under which the IAEA is allowed access to Iranian nuclear sites has yet to be announced.

Asked whether the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia could improve under the new Iranian president, Al-Saud said "foreign policy in Iran is in any case run by the supreme leader."

But he added that his country bases interactions on the reality on the ground "regardless of who is in charge".

Saudi Arabia has recently started secret talks with Iran in Baghdad over several points of contention.

New Iranian president-elect Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran would have "no problem" with a possible reopening of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and that the "restoration of relations faces no barrier."

The embassy shut down in 2016 as relations deteriorated.