Saudi FM: Trying to find a path to dialogue with Iran

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Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that his country has communicated with Iran and is trying to find a path to dialogue between the two countries.

On US-Saudi relations, Bin Farhan said that Saudi Arabia "has a strong partnership with the United States, but this does not mean that it always agrees with it."

This comes days after the Saudi minister announced, during his meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's assistant, Muhammad Hosseini, in Brazil, his country's readiness to resume negotiations with Iran.

The Saudi minister stressed, at the time, that "the type of relations between Tehran and Riyadh affects the entire region," while stressing "the necessity of continuing the talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran that had kicked off through Iraq.

Check out: Iraqi dialogues between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Negotiations between the two parties started in the spring of 2021 in a bid to mend relations between the two countries, which saw them holding four rounds of negotiations in the Iraqi capital, and, despite their positive impacts on their bilateral relations, Tehran suspended the talks due to Riyadh executing en masse 81 nationals and residents under the pretext of involvement in "terrorism".

In early March, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said Iran and the kingdom would be "neighbors forever" and expressed that it would be beneficial to work out their issues and coexist.

On 22 July, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian noted that the Iranian side informed Riyadh that Tehran is ready to continue the dialogue at the political level to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries

In November, the negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties were suspended by the latter, due to the change of government in mediator-country Iraq.
 
With the end of Mustafa Kadhimi’s premiership in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has informed Tehran through special channels that the dialogue stopped, as he was the chief mediator of Saudi-Iranian reconciliation talks, and other Iraqi authorities were rarely or not involved at all, the source was cited as saying. 

It is noteworthy that diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia grew strained following the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr in January 2016. Sheikh Al-Nimr was a vocal critic of the Saudi government. The Sheikh raised his voice against corruption and political injustice inflicted on marginalized groups that constitute minorities in different regions of the Kingdom, notably Al-Qatif.

Iran and the Saudi monarchy are particularly at odds due to the war on Yemen, where  Riyadh leads a military coalition backing the government and aggression afflicts the lives of thousands of Yemenis for over 7 years.