In a meeting with new Saudi ambassador to Tehran, Abdurrahman bin Gharman Shahri, Rafsanjani said Muslims, numbering 1.7 million in the world, sit on huge energy reserves.

Rafsanjani, a former president, said Iran and Saudi Arabia need to team up and cooperate on regional issues in order to avert sectarian strife in the Muslim world.

He said that cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia would benefit the interests of all Muslim countries.

The Saudi ambassador delivered an official invitation to Rafsanjani, who chairs the top arbitration body Expediency Council, to visit Saudi Arabia.