Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji said on Sunday that the fifth round of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia “will be held very soon” in Baghdad, emphasizing the importance of a rapprochement between the two key regional actors for the Middle East, Iraqi state media reported.

Araji’s remarks came after he held a meeting with an Iranian delegation led by the President of the Iranian National Defense University, Major General Ismail Ahmadi Moqadam. During the meeting, Araji expressed Iraq’s support and optimism regarding future talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, according to state media. 

The discussions also touched upon developing Iraqi-Iranian relations and enhancing cooperation to serve both Iraqis and Iranians.

During a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud said the Kingdom was seeking to schedule a fifth round of talks with Iran despite a “lack of substantive progress” during the previous rounds. 

The fifth round of talks has been on the agenda since the beginning of this year, but a date has not yet been set. 

Since last year, Iran and Saudi negotiators have met in Baghdad on four occasions in the presence of Iraqi officials to speak about how to resolve their differences in the Middle East, particularly when it comes to the conflict in Yemen where Iran-backed Houthi militias are known to use Iranian manufactured drones and missiles to target Saudi airports and cities.

Iraq has played a key role in facilitating the talks, with the fifth round of Saudi-Iran talks delayed while Iraqi political actors continue the process of forming a new government following the country’s parliamentary elections.

The talks have been taking place in the backdrop of ongoing indirect talks, which are currently in their final stage, between Iran and the US aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal.

Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic have had rocky relations since 1979, when Shia revolutionaries came to power in Iran and pledged to export its revolution to the world, including Gulf countries. Their relations deteriorated in 2016 when Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions after the kingdom executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in the Yemeni civil war since late 2014 has caused concerns for the Saudi establishment.

Tens of thousands have been killed, and over 80 percent of Yemen’s population is dependent on aid according to the United Nations.