Iraq is mediating the release of an Iranian pilgrim detained in Saudi Arabia

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein on Thursday said he has proceeded with talks to mediate the release of an Iranian national detained by the Saudi authorities in Mecca during the last Haj pilgrimage, the Iranian official news agency, IRNA, reported.

In a phone call he held with his Iranian counterpart, Hussein Amirabdullahian, Hussein hoped that common ground could be reached soon to expedite the release of the detained pilgrim.

Last month, Amirabdollahian raised the issue during a call with his Iraqi counterpart in which he asked for the incident to be followed up by Iraq, thr host of several rounds of Iranian-Saudi talks.

Tehran and Riyadh, the leading Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, severed ties in 2016, with both parties backing opposite sides in proxy wars across the region.

In May, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said there had been some progress in the Iraq-mediated talks with Iran but "not enough."