Iraq's new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hopes to continue talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran during his tenure, Reuters reports.

Speaking at his first press conference since his government received a vote of confidence from parliament, al-Sudani said the Iranian side had expressed interest in continuing the talks brokered by Iraq.

Since last year, Iraq has held several rounds of direct talks between officials of the two regional rivals, though so far the talks have not yielded much.

The al-Sudani government is the first in Iraq since 2005 without representatives of the bloc of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In his speech, al-Sudani pledged to focus on recovering stolen Iraqi funds that may have been transferred abroad and said he would hold talks with U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq to understand the needs of Iraqi security forces. These include training needs and the number of coalition troops needed.

U.S.-led coalition forces have officially ended their combat mission in Iraq, but continue to advise Iraqi forces in the fight against the extremist group Islamic State.