Iran Open to Addressing Differences With Saudi Arabia

EghtesadOnline: Tehran welcomes the Saudi crown prince's willingness to settle political conflicts with Iran through dialogue, the top Iranian lawmaker said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۵۹۸

02 October 2019

"Iran's doors are open to Saudi Arabia … Iranian-Saudi talks will resolve many of the security and political issues in the region," Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said in an interview with Aljazeera.

Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman had said in a recent interview with CBS that Riyadh prefers a political solution to a military confrontation to defuse tensions in the Persian Gulf region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also said he believes Saudi Arabia is looking to deescalate tensions with Iran, days after he visited the kingdom and held talks with King Salman, according to Financial Tribune.

The region has experienced an escalation, especially after the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which Riyadh, Washington and European powers have blamed on Iran, although Tehran denies any involvement.

MbS said he agreed with the western powers’ allegation that the attack was an "act of war" by Iran, but preferred a peaceful resolution because a regional war would destroy the global economy.

"Oil supplies will be disrupted and oil prices will jump to unimaginably high numbers that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes," he said.

The assault has been claimed by the Yemeni Houthi fighters, but Riyadh and western countries argue that its scale is beyond their capability.

Houthis have been at war with the forces of the ousted Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, for around four years.

Divergence on Yemen

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at odds over the Yemeni crisis, as they support opposing warring parties.

Riyadh leads a coalition supporting the forces of the Hadi government while Iran extends moral support to the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of backing the Houthis and supplying them with weapons. Tehran says it supports the rebels diplomatically and politically, but denies providing them with military aid.

"We advise Yemenis to accept a ceasefire and point out to Saudi Arabia that a ceasefire would be in their interest," Larijani said.

The Majlis speaker also called on regional countries to form a special coalition of Persian Gulf countries.

He was referring to President Hassan Rouhani's peace plan, known as the Coalition of Hope (Hormuz Peace Initiative) that was unveiled during his address to the United Nations General Assembly last week.

The initiative invites the UN and all regional countries to work together to guarantee security in the region. Tehran argues that security in the Persian Gulf cannot be entrusted to outside powers.

"The goal of the Coalition of Hope is to promote peace, stability, progress and welfare for all the residents of the Strait of Hormuz region, and to enhance mutual understanding and peaceful and friendly relations among them," Rouhani had said during his speech at the UN event.

Iran had also earlier proposed the signing of a non-aggression pact between Persian Gulf states to solve their problems among themselves.

Zarif has underscored the proposal repeatedly during his visits to neighboring countries since early this year.

A non-aggression pact is a treaty between countries in which signatories promise not to engage in a war against each other.