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Iran is always open to negotiations with Saudi Arabia, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
“We have seen media reports about talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, although the reports sometimes had contradictory quotes,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference.
“What is important is that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always welcomed dialogue with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it in the interest of the people of the two countries, as well as peace and stability in the region,” he added.
This confirmation came after media reports that Riyadh and Tehran held secret talks in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.
The two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2016 and have been engaged in several proxy wars in the region.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman refused to confirm or deny the reported talks on April 9 in Baghdad, but added that media outlets have used “contradictory quotes” and have had a history of fabricating news.
Khatibzadeh, however, pointed out that Iran “has always welcomed talks with the Saudi kingdom and has deemed it beneficial to the two countries’ people and regional peace and stability, and this thought will continue”.
Iraq holds close ties with neighbouring Iran, and several high-level political delegations have travelled to Tehran to discuss the region in recent months.
Reports of the direct Iran-Saudi Arabia talks also come as Iran and world powers are weeks into negotiations in Vienna to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran has accused the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by Saudi Arabia, of trying to derail the talks. It also says that the US would lift sanctions from Iran if the talks were successful.
The GCC states have repeatedly said they wish to be included in the talks and have called for the JCPOA’s expansion to curb Iran’s missile programme and its increasing regional influence.
The alleged April 9 meeting in Iraq, first reported by the Financial Times, did not lead to any breakthrough, the Iranian official and one of the regional sources familiar with the matter said.
The regional source said the meeting focused on Yemen, where a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi group since March 2015.
“This was a low-level meeting to explore whether there might be a way to ease ongoing tensions in the region,” the Iranian official said, adding that it was based on Iraq’s request.
One of the sources said the meeting, arranged by Iraq’s prime minister who visited Saudi Arabia earlier this month, had focused on Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition fights against the Iran-backed Ansar Allah.
A second regional source said the talks also touched on Lebanon, which is facing a political vacuum amid a dire financial crisis. Gulf Arab states are alarmed by the expanding role of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
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It is becoming unsustainable even for the richest Arab country to continue to be the instrument of Atlantic-Isisrahellian colonialist policies, or frees from this role or will die painfully, tertium not datur.
bury the hatchet and forget about shia or sunni line of religion and close out the jews and drive them into the sea.
It was natural that Saudis would accept Iranian protection after the dismal failure of Western weapons in Yemen. Iraqi PM Khadimi is a close ally of Iran and Hezbollah and wants to end the war in Yemen and focus on the Zionist threat in Arbil. It in now open knowledge that Iraqis hit the Mossad scum in Arbil and Iraqi military aka PMU is attacking the US occupation savages daily. The Saudis are also pushing for a united resistance in Iraq.
Yer full of sh Xt …
PM Khadimi is someone who is an Iraqi patriot … not of Iran or Hezbollah … ya lout
Frankly, you are a scared hasbara diaper boy. Lol. He has lived in Iran most of his life and his family still lives there. You are the bottom of the gutter. NEXT
He is a Shia Muslim … NOT a Mullah or a theocratic leader
He is a totally ignorant and vacouus hasbara troll, lacking even rudimentary knowledge about the region or its intricate history of shifting alliances. The Zionist usurpers will never be accepted by the people, whether Sunni or Shia.
Hasbara is now recruiting complete PUNKS, as the whole narrative has been discredited and the Zionists have been exposed as cowardly braggart. 1. Iran’s nuclear program could not be stopped. 2. The braggadocio about “expelling” Iran from Syria was a demented punks fantasy. 3. The Ameriswine are spread thin trying to provoke a war with Russia in Ukraine to take on Iran, so will cut a deal. 4. Zionist criminals can not last in Occupied Palestine as demographics have totally shifted. The criminal Zionist regime can not even form a government without Arab participation. This is exactly how the Apartheid regime ended.
NEXT……
‘You talkin’ ta me? I don’t see anyone else … You talkin’ to me?’ lol
1. Iran is talking … the mighty Ayatollah said not gonna happen … the f/kn IRGC are desperate
2. Iran in Syria has been degraded … everyone with eyeballs has said so …
3. Provoke a war with Russia to take on Ukraine? Huh? Only a deranged ‘punk’ could circle that square … LMAO
4. Israel demographics are excellent … Jews growing in numbers as Arabs numbers remain steady … hello? It’s exactly the opposite of your braggadocio … lol
Punk …
I love baiting him too. He is an ignorant troll living in Canada according to him, which is doubtful too.
Canada has very high Jew infestation too. Trudeau is their shill.
Way more Muslims than Jews in Canada … but why say anything truthful
Ontario where I live … there are more Muslims living than TOTAL Jews in Canada
Got owned again ROFLMAO The future has landed…….
Shia majority of the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted for him. He is dependent on majority which was reached due to the Quds Forces against US puppet Adnan al Zurfi
Iraq is an overwhelmingly Shia majority country and most of its leaders sought refuge in Iran during the coward spider hole Saddam’s era. Khadimi himself spent years in Iran.
The Americans like him as a fair minded individual … Iraq is a Shia majority state … but it’s NOT a THEOCRACY like the vile Mullah Police State
next … eh?
As a Canadian you’d know … eh?
Iraqis are unanimous in their hatred of the Ameriswine cowardly savages who have killed a million Iraqi civilians, destroyed their country and have plundered their oil wealth. Iraq was an almost developed, high middle income country before the idiot Saddam plunged it into wars and gave the Ameriswine and Zionist parasites an opening. Only sustained united resistance will free Iraq from the murderous occupation and perverted Ameriswine criminals who gave the world an insight into their sick mentality at Abu Ghairaib.
Frankly, the Saudis are finally seeing the light and accepting Iran’s predominant position the region historically. They are seeking Iranian protection and soon will be sending a high level delegation to Tehran. Saudi media has already turned on the Zionists. Bad times ahead for Zionist criminals.
Wow … the Iranians here are F-F Freaking out
Why waste time with a rotting cabal of desert hooligans who had their thrones made for them by the British Imperialists?
The Sauds will be turned into peasants in a single night within a decade …
Saudis are on shifting sands and only Iran can offer them stability and they realise that after the clown MBS created disaster in Yemen.
Saudis are barely 8 million native born Wahhabi Bedouin, the rest of their population are over paid unemployable western scam artists or Arab and South Asian slave labor. Their useless military has spent over a trillion dollars on inflated, hyped up western junk weaponry that has not proved worth a SH1T in Yemen. As even Trump acknowledged, the Saudis could not fight their way out of a paper bag.
Seems to work well in the Jews / Zionists / Israelis hands … eh?
It’s not the arms but the men / women using them … eh?
The Arab / Muslims have been slapped silly by the Jews / Zionists / Israelis in every war …
next
You wasted one wish from Aladdin’s lamp … eh?
Now people are going to panic that Iran will sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. I’ll laugh my ass off at people’s comments when I see the headline appear “A single Iranian Shahab-2 missile used by Saudi Arabia in Yemen” 😂.
For all you guys throwing a fit about Russian, Chinese, and Turkish weapons ending up in Saudi hands against the Houthis, you need to remember that 85% to 90% of Saudi weapons from from the USA, NATO, and EU. They are the ones who are really fueling the war with the Saudi Royal Headchoppers.
I myself don’t like the idea of arms sales, but you got to remember that when such sales are made, not every weapon can be controlled. And because of how rare it is to see Russian and Turkish missiles used in Yemen, there are likely stipulations of use in the arms sales contracts, as both these countries have a good pragmatic relationship with the Houthis. Russia has good diplomatic relations with the Houthis, and Turkey (like Iran) regularly supplies aid to Yemen.
Pragmaticism I don’t think is a hard concept to understand, but people really blow it all out of proportion.
It is good to see Iranian peace initiatives to stabilise the region and focus on the removal of the Zionist cancer from the region. Saudis have no other option as the quagmire in Yemen has shaken the foundations of their inept and corrupt family based regime. They will gain a lot by closer ties with Iran as Iraq has found over the years.
Now that’s funny … eh?
Can you do 15 minutes of standup?
We need to get rid of Wahhabis in the first place. That is the priority. Quit tripping about Zionists already.
The Persians are so polite. This must be their way of saying “We accept your surrender”.