The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia discussed regional developments ahead of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, Iranian state media IRNA reported.
Due to the IRNA’s focus on these talks, this appears to be important to Iran. By contrast, the media in the Gulf was more circumspect. The media outlet Arab News said that “Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan made a phone call to his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. During the call, the two officials discussed regional developments and efforts made with regard to them.”Tehran likely sees Saudi Arabia as important because of the opportunity to reach out to US President Donald Trump’s administration via Riyadh. America recently imposed a number of sanctions on Iranian entities involved in the trade of oil.
In addition, the US has sanctioned six entities linked to Iran’s drone and ballistic missile programs.
Iran has done other outreach to the Gulf recently, including hosting Qatar’s emir. Tehran hopes that Doha can also help it in discussions with Washington.The Islamic Republic appears to want to back away from provoking the US into increasing its activity against Tehran.According to the IRNA, the foreign ministers of each country “reviewed the latest developments in the region and exchanged views on the agenda for the upcoming OIC foreign ministers’ meeting, which is set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
Reviewing the latest developments in the Middle East
Iranian state media said that the foreign ministers of each country "reviewed the latest developments in the region and exchanged views on the agenda for the upcoming OIC foreign ministers’ meeting, which is set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
The report noted that the OIC is “a 57-member organization aimed at strengthening solidarity among Islamic countries, is expected to address critical issues affecting the Muslim world, including political, economic, and security challenges.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia reconciled over the last two years. China and Iraq have backed this reconciliation.
Riyadh used to be very openly opposed to Iran’s actions in the region, including Iran’s backing of the Houthis.
In the last years, Saudi Arabia has been watching carefully the developments as Iran has provoked a crisis in the region and as Iran has lost out in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.