(Baghdad) Between Iran and Saudi Arabia, “the understanding is close”, estimated the Iraqi Prime Minister, Moustafa al-Kazimi, in an interview published on Saturday by the state daily Al Sabahthe two rival regional powers having resumed their talks in Baghdad after a brief suspension.
Posted yesterday at 7:57
At the end of a fifth round of talks bringing together senior Iranian and Saudi security officials on April 21, the Iraqi authorities have multiplied optimistic statements, indicating that a sixth meeting should take place soon and going so far as to hope a resumption of diplomatic relations suspended in 2016.
“Our brothers in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are approaching the issue of dialogue with great responsibility, commensurate with the demands of the current situation in the region,” Kazimi said in this interview. Al Sabah.
“We are convinced that the agreement is close,” he added. “Iraq has a direct interest in seeing the agreement between the countries of the region materialize in order to achieve regional stability”.
The prime minister himself attended the last meeting, according to Iraqi diplomacy.
“The talks have started and are continuing […] and could perhaps lead to a restoration of diplomatic representations between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf said on Tuesday, quoted by the state news agency. INA.
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran severed ties in 2016 after protesters in the Islamic Republic attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following Riyadh’s execution of a famous Shia cleric.
The two rival powers, who accuse each other of destabilizing the Middle East, have however undertaken negotiations made public for the first time in April 2021.
In March, the Iranian press reported a “suspension” of dialogue after Riyadh announced the execution of 81 people for crimes linked to “terrorism”, including men linked to Houthi rebels in Yemen, supported by the Iran in their war against Riyadh-backed government forces.
In early March, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, defended a policy of “coexistence” with Iran. A statement then welcomed by the head of Iranian diplomacy, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who saw in it a “willingness” from Riyadh to restore ties with his country.