The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, the caretaker Iranian foreign minister welcomed the Somali government’s initiative to pave the path for the resumption of ties between the two countries.

"We believe that Islamic countries should boost their ties in line with common interests and benefits and confrontation with enemies of the Muslim world,” Bagheri stressed, adding, "We have no restrictions to improve and expand our relations with African states.”

Bagheri warned Israel is not only a threat to the Palestinian people, but also to the entire Islamic ummah (nation), and emphasized that Islamic states should "have a practical voice, policy, and action against the Zionist regime’s threats.”

While, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi supported the resumption of the Iranian ties to Somalia, while he condemned Israeils aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sovereignty and stability and that of the Palestine.

Minister Fiqi also offered his condolences on the martyrdom of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

Protesters in Somalia took to the streets of Mogadishu to condemn the assassination of Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh by Israel. tudents, business people and religious clerics came out in Mogadishu to show solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been facing an Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, against Israel.

Somalia and Iran have been at odds since 2016, but In a surprising diplomatic turn, Somalia's government has announced iin March 2024 ts intention to mend ties with Iran, marking a significant departure from the severed relations dating back to 2016.  The decision followed in the wake of the release of 33 Iranian fishermenand sailors who were detained in Mogadishu for illegal fishing activities along the Somali coast.

The decision to sever diplomatic ties with Iran was taken by Somalia’s government in January 2016, under the leadership of then-President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Allegations were made against Iranian diplomats and aid agencies, accusing them of attempting to propagate Shiite ideology within Somalia. On 7 January 2016, the Mogadishu government ordered all Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 72 hours. On the same day it announced it was cutting ties with Saudi rival Iran,  Somalia received a pledge of aid for $50 million from Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.

Bagheri Kani's outreach to Somalia corresponds into a more recent pattern of Iran seeking to expand its influence in Africa, particularly as the continent becomes an increasingly important arena in the geopolitical contest between Tehran and its rivals.