Iran and Saudi Arabia held a fifth round of talks on normalizing bilateral relations in Baghdad last Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh confirmed on Monday.

"The talks were progressive and positive," Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference.

On Sunday, Iraq's Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said Baghdad would also host a new round.

Khatibzadeh said "initial talks were underway between Tehran and Riyadh on sending 40,000 Iranian pilgrims to the haj in Mecca" this year.