TEHRAN – A Kuwaiti newspaper has reported that Saudi Arabia is mulling a plan to connect its railway to Iran.

In a report on Friday, the Al-Jarida newspaper quoted a source close to the Saudi government as saying that Riyadh will examine plans to connect its territory to Iran's railway through Kuwait and Basra in Iraq. 

The source had spoken to a senior journalist working for the French newspaper Le Figaro and had cited information given by Saudi authorities during a recent Saudi-French investment forum in France. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan met in the Iranian capital on June 17, nearly three months after Tehran and Riyadh decided to rebuild their ties under a rapprochement deal brokered by China.

In his meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the same date, the Saudi foreign minister welcomed the thaw in Tehran-Riyadh relations and said, “We are in a golden stage that we should appreciate, and cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran provides the opportunity to benefit from these conditions for the two sides and the region.”

Prince Faisal also said the Saudi king has ordered the formation of various working groups to boost relations with Iran. He underlined Saudi Arabia’s efforts to upgrade relations with Iran to a strategic level. “Economic, development and cultural cooperation is on the agenda of Tehran and Riyadh,” he said.