When former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died Jan. 8, it was thought that his death might be another nail in the coffin of Saudi-Iranian dialogue, and thus usher an era of additional tension between Tehran and its Arab neighbors. Yet a personal condolence letter from Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to the family of Rafsanjani, followed by a visit of Kuwait’s foreign minister to the Iranian capital Jan. 25, give a different indication.

Indeed, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sabah al-Khaled al-Ahmad al-Sabah came to Tehran with a letter from the emir of Kuwait, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, on behalf of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), about the necessity of improving relations. On Jan. 26, Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters that the Iranian side showed understanding and readiness to react positively to the letter, saying, “The message and its content focused on laying the foundations for a joint dialogue based on the abstention from interfering in Gulf affairs and respecting the sovereignty of the GCC states and all the UN [Security] Council articles. It will be a breakthrough in the bilateral relations between the Gulf and Iran.”

An official Iranian source in Tehran told Al-Monitor without elaborating on the details, “The letter proposed an Iran-GCC dialogue based on three principles as a basis for dialogue." The source hinted that the language used in the letter was “very respectful,” which is noteworthy given the many acrimonious exchanges between Saudi and Iranian officials in the past year.

An official Kuwaiti source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the letter is based on the final statement of the GCC summit that was held in Bahrain on Dec. 7, 2016. “The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry started contacts with Tehran directly after the summit. It is probably a long track, but regional peace and stability require all involved parties to cooperate,” the source said, adding that this does not mean embassies are going to open again immediately, nor that Iran is necessarily going to send pilgrims to hajj this year. He concluded, “Though we hope this will happen."