Ex-Iran OIC envoy: Riyadh concerned about Tehran’s reaction to normalization with Israel

“That Saudi Arabia agreed to restore ties with Iran to be able to pursue the normalization of relations with Israel is not a precise analysis,” said Sabah Zanganeh, Iran’s former ambassador to the OIC, in an interview with Jamaran news outlet .

“Such an analysis would be an exaggeration,” he added. “Saudi Arabia is, has been and will be worried about Iran’s reaction. The other countries which have pursued the same policy are still concerned about Iran’s stance, too,” he explained.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the ex-envoy touched upon Riyadh’s stance on Washington. “Saudi Arabia seeks to gain concessions from the United States; namely, it seeks  the privilege of atomic energy enrichment from the US,” he noted.

“The Saudis want Israel’s state-of-the-art technologies as well as a trade and oil transit line to the Mediterranean, and it is their move to gain concessions that will clarify their decision,” he explained.

“The revival of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia left the Saudis with no excuses to gain more concessions and justify forming an alliance with Israel,” said the former Iranian OIC ambassador.

“Israel, for its part, lost an element which it used to provoke Arab countries to adopt harsh stances against Iran,” he said.