Iraj Masjedi, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, has said that Iran is open to resolving differences with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, “as quickly as possible”.

In an interview with an Iraqi news agency published on Tuesday, he said that his government “welcomes efforts to resolve issues either from inside Iraq or any other country in the region,” Aljazeera reported.

Masjedi said Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated at the Baghdad airport in a U.S. air raid on January 3, was carrying a message setting out Iran’s position on possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.

Soleimani’s message that he was meant to deliver when he arrived in Baghdad, set out Tehran’s position on “fighting terrorism and achieving peace and security in the region,” Masjedi said.

Pointing to Iran’s retaliatory missile attack on a major U.S. air base in Iraq on January 8, he said Iran would respond harshly to any future U.S. attack.

“If we wanted to put a limit on such events unfolding again, the U.S. must stop intervening in the region’s issues, and must dismantle its bases that are used to carry out such terrorist behaviors,” Masjedi said.

NA/PA