Iran and Saudi Arabia will exchange ambassadors after reopening their diplomatic missions, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported, quoting an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday.

Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a press conference that the Saudi team arrived in Iran on Saturday in order to pave the way for the reopening of the Kingdom's embassy in Tehran and the Consulate General in the city of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country.

He added that the Iranian delegation will soon go to Saudi Arabia for the same purpose before reopening Iran's embassy in Riyadh, its general consulate and its representative office with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah.

Kanaani said that following the signing of a joint statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Beijing on Thursday, the two countries practically resumed formal diplomatic relations.

Kanani praised China's "good intentions and positive approach" and its "constructive role" in normalizing relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and said that Beijing helped complete the diplomatic process that began in Baghdad and Muscat, and bring about a "constructive shift" in relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

The Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers agreed, during their meeting in Beijing on Thursday, to lay the groundwork for the exchange of economic delegations from the public and private sectors, and to hold meetings between the joint economic committees of the two sides, according to Kanani.

Saudi Arabia and Iran reached an agreement last March to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions in the two countries within two months.