Saudi King: Iran is our neighbor, yet differences exist
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Addressing the Shura Council, the Saudi King stated that Iran is a neighboring country, yet great tension exists between the two nations over Yemen.
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Saudi King: Riyadh is concerned with Tehran's "lack of cooperation".
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz affirmed that Iran is a neighboring country in the region, hoping that it would change what he described as "negative behavior", according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
During his annual speech at the beginning of the second year of the Shura Council's eighth session on Wednesday, King Salman said that his country hopes that Iran will move toward dialogue and cooperation.
He added that Riyadh is concerned with Tehran's "lack of cooperation" with the international community regarding the nuclear program and the development of its ballistic missile programs.
The King pointed out that there is great tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran due to many sharp differences, especially the war on Yemen and the January 2, 2016 attacks on the Riyadh Embassy in Tehran, and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad after the Saudi Kingdom's authorities executed 47 people in alleged terrorism cases, including prominent cleric Nimr Al-Nimr.
He pointed out that there have been no official diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh since 2016, but in recent months, messages have been exchanged about their desire to settle their differences.
Saudi-Iran talks
In early December, the Arab Institute for Security Studies hosted a "security dialogue" session between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
According to the Jordanian Petra news agency, the session discussed security and technical issues, which the two sides showed a mutual desire to tackle in the course of developing relations and enhancing regional stability.
This year, Saudi Arabia and Iran held four rounds of talks in Baghdad on the normalization of severed relations and ways to resolve differences.
They also discussed the issues following a previously agreed-upon roadmap, including diplomatic representation between the two countries.
'Good talks'
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh revealed that Iran has conducted several rounds of talks with the Saudi government in Baghdad during the past months, noting that there is serious progress in talks on Gulf security.
Khatibzadeh detailed that these talks never stopped and messages were exchanged at the appropriate level.
Khatibzadeh expressed his belief that the Saudi government should pay close attention to Iran's message that the solution to problems in the region lies within the region itself, noting that there must be a comprehensive mechanism to ensure a stable and good relationship between the two important regional players.
Saudi King: The Kingdom is keen to work with the OPEC agreement
In his speech, the Saudi King addressed the issues regarding oil and said the Kingdom is keen to continue working with the OPEC+ agreement for its essential role in stabilizing oil markets, stressing the importance of all producers' commitment to the agreement.
He believed that the market's stability and balance are among the pillars of the Saudi energy strategy and that the largest oil exporter in the world must maintain additional production capacity to maintain the security of energy supplies.
Investors are also awaiting the next OPEC+ meeting, on the fourth of next January, to determine whether it will implement its plan to increase 400,000 barrels per day of its production in February 2022.
