Iran and Bahrain have agreed to begin negotiations to restore diplomatic ties severed eight years ago, Iran’s foreign ministry said.

The announcement came on the sidelines of a rare visit by Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani to Tehran for the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD).

During his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri, the two sides “agreed to set up the necessary mechanisms to start talks between the two countries to study ways to resume political relations,” the foreign ministry said.

Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 after the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad were vandalised by protesters against Riyadh’s execution of dissident Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.