MUST-READS

• Opinion: China triumphs with Saudi-Iran deal, but devil in implementation – Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East

  The second, and far more pressing, issue is one of willingness. China’s role in brokering the deal is unlikely to see it raise its head above the parapet if violence or tensions erupt. Beijing has expended decades of diplomatic effort to cultivate good relations with all regional states. We are simply unlikely to see China risk blowing it all by siding with one partner at the expense of the other.

• Saudi-Iran talks said to have stalled over protests in Iran

  Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because of Tehran claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the mass anti-government protests underway in Iran, multiple Iraqi officials said. The talks had been lauded as a breakthrough that would ease regional tensions. Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month after taking office that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating the dialogue.

• Cartoons and Quranic verses form the latest Saudi-Iran battleground

  The animated simulation shows a fleet of drones approaching an oil facility belonging to Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company. Air raid sirens are heard with ominous background music as the drones aim at the facility, apparently ready to strike. The one-minute video ends with a telling verse from the Quran about God repelling the invaders of Mecca by having them pelted with stones from the sky. “And He sent upon them birds, in flocks,” it says.

• Saudi-Iran talks to resume when conditions right in Iraq, says Iranian envoy

  A delayed sixth round of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Baghdad will take place when the conditions are right in Iraq, Iran's ambassador to Kuwait said in published remarks confirmed by his embassy on Wednesday. Riyadh and Tehran, the leading Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite powers in the region respectively, have have been locked in a decades long rivalry. Last year, they launched direct talks in a bid to improve relations.

• Saudi-Iranian Negotiations: Managing the Conflict and Gauging Broader Regional Impact

  Geopolitical competition between Riyadh and Tehran goes at least as far back as the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In 2016, an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, following the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, pushed Saudi Arabia to recall its ambassador from Iran. Tensions have increased further, as the kingdom has come under attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, and Iran is believed to have carried out attacks in September 2019 on Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia. However, a fifth round of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Baghdad has sparked a fresh sense of optimism. Iraq’s prime minister suggested “reconciliation is near.” The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated that he saw progress in the recent round of talks, which he described as “positive and serious.” The moves to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran are already creating ripple effects for other countries in the region. Yemen has been one of the main arenas of competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran since 2011, but it is now becoming an opportunity for confidence-building measures as part of talks between the two parties in Iraq. Iran’s Yemen policy has largely focused on undermining Saudi security by creating a thorn in its underbelly. Iran has long provided significant and lethal support for the Houthis. Support from and extensive military training by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and Hezbollah have enabled the Houthis to repeatedly attack Saudi soil. Estimates from 2015 indicated the war in Yemen, even at that stage, was costing Saudi Arabia up to $6 billion a month. The resumption of talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, following a several-month hiatus, came shortly after a negotiated cease-fire in Yemen, suggesting Iran may have had some role in influencing the Houthis. The cease-fire has been a significant initial step toward ending the war in Yemen, and if it holds, it could be the cornerstone of building trust between Riyadh and Tehran. The negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will also likely affect politics in Lebanon and Iraq, where Tehran and Riyadh support competing political forces. Both Riyadh and Tehran have maintained significant influence within Lebanon, and this has increased tension between Iran’s and Saudi Arabia’s allies in the country. For example, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, in January accused Saudi Arabia of terrorism because of its role in the war in Yemen. Lebanese officials condemned Nasrallah’s harsh anti-Saudi language: Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, said that, “The Lebanese people are keen on preserving Lebanon’s Arab and international relations, especially the ones with the Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront.” After Hezbollah-allied candidates lost the majority in Parliament following the May 15 elections, a decrease in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran will likely help to make the formation of Lebanon’s government smoother and aid its functionality. As a result, ending the political deadlock in Lebanon has been high on the agenda during the negotiations between the two countries. While Saudi Arabia and Iran will likely continue supporting their respective allies, political maneuvering in Lebanon may be smoother. Despite the talks being held in Iraq, Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s involvement in that country were not discussed. However, there could also be space here to create a better understanding between Tehran and Riyadh on this front as well. Iranian-allied militias in Iraq have been accused of a number of attacks on Saudi Arabia. For example, Kataib Hezbollah is suspected of conducting attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019 and a Saudi royal palace in 2021. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran will likely try to maintain influence in Iraq, but a better understanding between these regional rivals would likely undercut the charged state of relations that helped encourage such attacks in the past. It could also provide for a better understanding in terms of their respective Iraq strategies. Finally, a reduction in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran may sway Riyadh away from its flirtation with the idea of joining the Abraham Accords with Israel. Since the 2015 signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, Saudi Arabia has been opening toward Israel, in part, viewing Israel as a potential counterweight to a more assertive Iran. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2020, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently said he would be happy to openly visit Saudi Arabia. In September 2021, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reportedly discussed the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel with the Saudi crown prince, and Mohammed bin Salman apparently did not openly reject the idea. In fact, he recently stated that Saudi Arabia does not consider Israel an enemy, but, rather, a “potential ally.” However, the thawing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, if it develops in a serious way, would remove at least one driver for the Saudis to normalize ties with Israel. For Saudi Arabia and Iran, there remain many steps before the two sides are likely to be able to establish enduring trust. The enmity between the two countries has been decades in the making and has geopolitical, sectarian, and economic dimensions. The negotiations, however, turning the two countries away from a military confrontation and back toward a political arena to settle disputes is a promising development that could have spillover effects for broader regional security.

• Opinion: Where to now for Saudi-Iranian dialogue?

  However, Saudi Arabia cautioned their Iraqi guest during his visit as previous talks with consecutive Iranian governments all failed because the acts of the regime and its security apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), violated their spirit.

• Commentary: Why Saudi-Iran relations are thawing — for now

  Adnan Tabatabai, an Iran expert and chief executive officer of the Bonn-based research center CARPO, told DW in a phone interview: "For the time being, it is a positive indicator that the talks have continued and are no longer denied. However, when we compare the signs from Tehran and Riyadh, Tehran is more confident about their positive outlook."

• Opinion: Saudi-Iranian Rapprochement Is Heading Nowhere

  The complication in this scenario is that Raisi intends neither to rein in those militias nor to agree to changes in the nuclear deal. Iran’s development of long-range ballistic missiles, which the United States would like to include in further talks, raises a particular threat to Saudi Arabia. As long as Iran is not ready to concede on these key fronts, the Saudis simply do not see the prospect of a deal.

• Iraq seeks to ease Saudi-Iran hostility at Baghdad summit

  Iraq has invited Iran and Tehran's Gulf Arab foes to a summit in Baghdad with the objective of calming tensions which have brought them close to open conflict in recent years. Officials say the meeting, which will also discuss the war in Yemen, Lebanon's collapse and a regional water crisis, could take a step towards Saudi-Iranian rapprochement even though they have yet to say what representation they will send.

• Perspective: Afghanistan May Be A Bellwether For Saudi-Iranian Rivalry

  From the Saudi perspective, it would not be the first time that the Taliban have said one thing and done another, including keeping an alleged promise prior to 9/11 that Osama Bin Laden would not be allowed to plan and organize attacks from Afghan soil and subsequent refusal to hand over the Saudi national.

• 10 of 80 results<< 1 … 3 4 5 … 8 >>