After years of growing hostility and competition for influence, Saudi Arabia and Iran have taken steps toward indirect talks to try to reduce the tensions that have brought the Middle East to the brink of war, according to officials from several countries involved in the efforts, reports The New York Times.
Even the prospect of such talks represents a remarkable turnaround, coming only a few weeks after a coordinated attack on Saudi oil installations led to bellicose threats in the Persian Gulf. Any reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran could have far-reaching consequences for conflicts across the region, the report added.
It was US President Trump’s refusal to retaliate against Iran for the Sept 14 attack, analysts say, that prompted Saudi Arabia to seek its own solution to the conflict. That solution, in turn, could subvert Trump’s effort to build an Arab alliance to isolate Iran.
In recent weeks, officials of Iraq and Pakistan said, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, asked the leaders of those two countries to speak with their Iranian counterparts about de-escalation.
Iran welcomed the gestures, stating privately and publicly that it was open to talks with Saudi Arabia.
In a statement to The New York Times on Friday (Oct 4), the Saudi government acknowledged that Iraq and Pakistan had offered to mediate talks between the two countries but denied that Prince Mohammed had taken the initiative.
“Efforts at de-escalation must emanate from the party that began the escalation and launched attacks, not the kingdom,” the statement said.
Iran’s receptiveness for contact with the Saudis contrasts with its chilly tone toward the United States. Last week, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, dodged an opportunity to speak directly with Trump while both were attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The new overtures between Saudi Arabia and Iran began in the aftermath of last month’s drone and cruise missile strikes on two Saudi oil facilities, which Saudi Arabia and the United States accused Iran of orchestrating.
Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan met with Prince Mohammed, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah last month. Days later, while Khan was at the General Assembly, he told reporters that Prince Mohammed had asked him to talk to Iran.
Prince Mohammed told Khan, “I want to avoid war,” according to a senior Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. “He asked the prime minister to get involved.”
Khan then spoke with Rouhani on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
The Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, visited Saudi Arabia a few days after Khan did.
A senior Iraqi official said that Prince Mohammed asked Abdul Mahdi to mediate with Iran and that Iraq had suggested Baghdad as the venue for a potential meeting.
“There is a big response from Saudi Arabia and from Iran and even from Yemen,” Abdul Mahdi told journalists in Iraq after his return from the kingdom. “And I think that these endeavours will have a good effect.”
Iran also endorsed the idea.
“Iran is open to starting a dialogue with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region,” Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, told Al Jazeera in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. “An Iranian-Saudi dialogue,” he added, “could solve many of the region’s security and political problems.”
While they explore back-channel possibilities, both sides have continued to stake out staunchly opposing public positions.
The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia had not asked anyone to send messages to Iran. Instead, he wrote, other countries he did not identify had offered to serve as intermediaries.
“We informed them that the truce needs to come from the side that is escalating and spreading chaos through aggressive acts in the region,” al-Jubeir wrote.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran said that his country would “definitely greet Saudi Arabia with open arms” — but only if it prioritized friendly relations with neighbours over purchasing weapons from the United States.