Despite a “lack of real progress” in past rounds, Saudi Arabia is planning a fifth round of direct negotiations with Iran, according to the kingdom’s foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016 when demonstrators stormed its embassy in Tehran following Riyadh’s killing of a Shia religious leader. Last year, Iraq held negotiations between the two regional powers.
In order to meet regional concerns, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud stated on Saturday that reviving the 2015 nuclear accord should be “a starting point, not an endpoint.” Saudi Arabia has criticized the agreement for failing to address Iran’s missile development.
“That will, indeed, necessitate a sincere desire on the part of our Iranian neighbors to address the fundamental difficulties… “We hope there is a genuine desire to create a new way of doing things,” he said.
“Yes, the rapprochement is feasible if we see meaningful movement on those files.” “We haven’t seen that so far,” he said at the Munich Security Conference.
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim country, and Iran, a Shia Muslim country, are involved in a number of proxy wars around the Middle East, especially in Yemen. Since 2015, Riyadh has led an Arab coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.
In 2019, tensions were at all-time high
Tensions between the two nations rose in 2019 following an attack on Saudi oil plants that Riyadh blamed on Iran, a charge Tehran denies and is still simmering over Yemen.
Iran continues to supply the Houthis with ballistic missile and drone parts, as well as conventional weapons, according to Prince Faisal, an accusation denied by both Tehran and Yemen’s Houthi party.
“This does not contribute to finding a solution to resolve that crisis,” he said, referring to the UN-led efforts for a truce in Yemen that have stagnated.
Yemen’s protracted conflict has killed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, culminating in the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, according to the United Nations.
In Iraq, Tehran and Riyadh have undertaken four rounds of talks, with Baghdad expecting that its mediation would prevent the neighbors from settling scores on its soil. The talks were regarded as friendly but exploratory by Saudi Arabia, while they went a “good distance” by Iran.
According to the semi-official news agency Fars, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi indicated earlier this month that Iran is ready for fresh discussions with Saudi Arabia provided Riyadh is willing to hold the negotiations in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.
In a phone discussion with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Raisi said, “Iran is ready to continue these negotiations until an outcome is reached, provided that the Saudis are willing to continue the negotiations in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.”
Riyadh and Tehran have expressed hope that the discussions will help to de-escalate tensions, but have downplayed the prospect of a meaningful diplomatic breakthrough.
According to Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesperson for Tehran’s foreign ministry, the negotiations have resulted in “significant progress” on Gulf security.
Last month, Iran said that three Iranian ambassadors had arrived in Saudi Arabia to take up positions at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) headquarters in Jeddah, indicating a thaw in relations.
