Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated, largely due to Tehran’s claims that Saudi Arabia has helped incite ongoing mass anti-government protests in Iran, several Iraqi officials said.
The talks were hailed as a breakthrough that could ease regional tensions. Iraq’s new prime minister, Mohammed Shia Sudani, said last month that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating dialogue.
However, a sixth circular of talks has been scheduled, to be held in Baghdad, because Tehran is refusing to meet with Saudi officials as protests in Iran enter the fourth month, according to Iraqi officials.
“The negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are stalled, and this will have a negative effect on the region,” said Amer Fayez, an Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliamentary foreign relations committee.
During his first official visit to Tehran in November, Sudani asked about resuming talks and discussed that he would soon visit the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
But the Iranians told him they would not meet with their Saudi counterparts and accused the kingdom of supporting national protests in Iran through Saudi-funded media, according to an official who is a member of the ruling coalition of the Coordination Framework in Iraq, an alliance made up primarily of Iranian-backed groups.
The main points were displayed through five Iraqi officials, plus government officials, Iranian-backed militias and Shiite Muslim political party figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Iran’s diplomatic project to the United Nations showed talks had deteriorated, but did not provide an explanation. “Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia were halted before recent breakthroughs in Iran, for reasons. It might be worth asking Saudi Arabia about them. “The project said in a statement.
Riyadh responded to requests for comment.
Iran’s obvious refusal to continue talks is a setback for Sudani, who hoped an ongoing discussion between Saudi Arabia and Iran would allow Iraq to play its role as a regional mediator. The breakdown of talks may also have regional repercussions, with the two nations backing opposing forces in various conflicts in the Middle East, adding to Syria and Yemen, where Iran backs Houthi rebels fighting the Yemeni government, which is subsidized through a military coalition of the Saudi government.
Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of investing in Iran International, a London-based news channel that has widely reported on the protests that erupted in Iran in mid-September. .
Tehran was also angered by a joint statement issued after an Arab-China summit in Riyadh last week, according to an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official. nuclear program,” and also called on Iran to respect “the principles of good-neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of states. “
China is a longtime economic partner of Iran, with bilateral relations focused on Beijing’s energy needs but also on arms sales. Deepening ties between countries is also seen as a strategic regional counterweight to the United States and its allies. Advanced economic ties between Beijing and Riyadh may get to the bottom of the prestige quo, Iraqi officials said.
Saudi Arabia, with a majority Sunni population, and Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, but deteriorated after the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Riyadh in 2016. The incident sparked protests in Saudi Arabia and Iran. , where protesters set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Diplomacy then deteriorated.
Direct talks were introduced in April 2021, negotiated through Iraq, with the aim of improving relations. The mere lifestyle of the discussion was considered important, the only notable result so far has been Iran’s reopening of the country’s representative workplace to the United Nations. Islamic cooperation in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Iran has been mired in anti-government protests since Sept. 16, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code. Protests have one of the most demanding situations. Iran’s theocracy since the chaotic years that followed the Islamic Revolution.
Iran says the protests are orchestrated through foreign agents, including the United States and its regional allies. At the start of the protests, Tehran accused Kurdish opposition teams exiled in Iraq of fueling protests and funneling weapons to Iran, without offering evidence to the allegations. Iran continued to exert pressure on Iraq to enforce stricter border controls.
The motive dates back to Sudani’s stopover in Tehran last month, officials said. Iraq has deployed specialized border forces in territory near its border with Iran. The forces are basically composed of Kurdish infantrymen to avoid tensions with the government of the autonomous semi-Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
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