Iran's foreign minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a rare visit to the regional rival to offer condolences after the death of King Abdullah, television pictures showed.

Saudi officials greeted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after he arrived at a military airport in the capital Riyadh.

Iran and Saudi, seen as the region's foremost Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers, have had troubled relations in recent years after taking different sides in the Syrian civil war.