Saudi Arabia announces holding talks with Iran

Agencies | Riyadh

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Heralding a possible thaw in regional tensions, a Saudi foreign ministry official yesterday admitted holding talks with Iran. He, however, added that it was too early to judge the outcome, and Riyadh wanted to see “verifiable deeds”.

The comments by Ambassador Rayed Krimly, head of policy planning at the ministry, were the first public confirmation from Riyadh that they were holding direct talks.

“As to current Saudi-Iranian talks, they aim to explore ways to reduce tensions in the region,” Krimly said. “We hope they prove successful, but it is too early and premature to reach any definitive conclusions.

Our evaluation will be based on verifiable deeds and not proclamations.” Reports claim the discussions were on Yemen and the 2015 nuclear deal between global powers and Iran.

Iraq’s president said on Wednesday that Baghdad hosted more than one round of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Krimly said Saudi policy had been explained “very clearly” by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He said last month that while the kingdom has a problem with Tehran’s “negative behaviour”, it wanted good relations with Iran.