WarSclerotic

Iranian talks with Saudi Arabia may signal thaw in relations
Reuters in Dubai
The Guardian, Monday 22 September 2014 05.15 EDT

(In the House of Saud, they now say, “The enemy of my enemy was my friend until they became my enemy and made my other enemy a friend who is still an enemy of my other friend, the USA.”…got it? Good for you. You couldn’t make this crap up.-LS)

Iran and Saudi Arabia have held their first foreign minister-level meeting since the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, official Iranian media have reported, signalling a possible thaw in relations between the rival Gulf powers.

Shia Muslim Iran and the conservative Sunni kingdom have been engaged in a bitter contest for influence in the region, evident in political and military struggles in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen.

The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested after his meeting in New York with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, that the talks could lead to an improvement in relations.

“Both my Saudi counterpart and I believe that this meeting will be the first page of a new chapter in our two countries’ relations,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

“We hope that this new chapter will be effective in establishing regional and global peace and security and will safeguard the interests of Muslim nations across the world.“

IRNA reported that Prince Saud, in a reference to the advance of Islamic State (Isis) militants in Iraq and Syria, said he was aware of the sensitivity of the situation.

“We are aware of the importance and sensitivity of this crisis and the opportunity we have ahead of us. We believe that by using this precious opportunity and avoid the mistakes of the past, we can deal with this crisis successfully,” he said.

“These two countries are influential in the region and cooperation between them will have clear effects on the establishment of regional and global security.“

This entry was posted on September 22, 2014 at 9:16 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.