“If Saudi Arabia’s vision on the big regional questions confronts reality and it stops its intrusions, we can solve many problems, especially in our relations”, Rouhani told a gathering of Iranian ambassadors in Tehran.
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According to Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for African and Arabian Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, despite the “wide gaps between the participants’ views”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif succeeded in ensuring that Iran’s views were considered in the nine-point joint statement issued at the end of the eight-hour meeting.
These two regional power houses have been engaged in proxy wars against each other and need to utilise the opportunity afforded by the Syrian talks to explore the options for a new thaw in their hostile relations.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, too, criticized Riyadh for what he called the kingdom’s “intrusion” in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia wants Assad gone, and has provided support to Syria’s moderate opposition forces, while Iran has sent in fighters and material support to bolster Assad.
“We have extended our hand in friendship to Iran”, Jubeir said.
It also invited a backlash from Gulf Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, which have been regional rivals with Iran.
A senior Iranian official has dismissed as baseless the recent comments by the Saudi foreign minister against the Islamic Republic, warning that there is a limit to Tehran’s patience. “It is up to the Iranians whether they want to have relations with us based on good neighborliness… or if they want to have relations that are filled with tension”. Dynamics changed after Iran sealed a deal on its disputed nuclear programme with world powers that began to ease its worldwide isolation. Foreign ministers from Iran, the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Britain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Lebanon, China and Oman attended the talks. At the same time, Iran insists on a Syrian-owned political process and seeks to refrain from giving the impression that it considers itself a direct stakeholder in a future Syrian national election.
Tehran is not about to abandon President Assad, because it fears any new regime in Syria may not be as accommodating to Iran.
“The point that most of the countries… agreed on is that a peace in Syria is not possible with [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad”.
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“If all parties show willingness during negotiations for the de-escalation of the crisis in Syria and make their contributions, then this can be a first step towards a political solution to the Syrian conflict”, Steinmeier said ahead of the talks.
