Expert: Iran-Saudi talks must be over bilateral issues alone

Saadolalh Zarei added that if the Saudis agree to negotiate with Iran over bilateral issues, everything is going to be ok, but they have so far refused to do so obstinately.

Zarei noted that Saudi Arabia is now part of the campaign of pressure against Iran.

The expert also spoke of the Zionist regime’s role in this regard, saying the Zionists are bent on tying the Iran-Saudi talks to some regional issues and that if the negotiations are limited to bilateral issues, Tel Aviv will try to sabotage them.

On the US role, Zarei said Washington should not be allowed to abuse Iran’s interest in establishing relations with Saudi Arabia nor should dialog with Riyadh be overshadowed by the Yemeni issue in the Baghdad talks.

“Let’s hope that bilateral ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia will be on the agenda of the Baghdad talks”, he added.

According to the Iranian expert, Saudi Arabia’s talks on Yemen should be with the Yemeni government itself and the Yemeni issue should not be included in talks with Iran.

He said Saudi Arabia’s problems with Yemen have prompted it to pursue negotiations with Iran, but Yemen is independent and can itself be at the negotiating table.

He added that the Saudi embassy incident had nothing to do with the Iranian government and that Riyadh used it as a pretext to cut ties with Tehran.

In 2016, a group of demonstrators attacked the Saudi embassy in Iran in protest against the execution of a Shia Muslim cleric by the kingdom. Following the incident, Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran.