Newspaper: Saudi Arabia requested mediation with Iran through this country

Saudi Arabia has “engaged an independent mediation line” to construct a secret talk channel with Tehran to ease tensions and prevent any escalation, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.

The newspaper said that Saudi Arabia has opened this line, mediated by Iraq, after reaching the conclusion that its existing policy against Iran has failed. The newspaper stated that these contacts are the fruit of Iraqi mediation at the request of Saudi Arabia (which have personally transferred by the former Minister and Ambassador Thamer Al-Sabhan),  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s offer from Baghdad on May 26 of a “non-aggression pact” against the Gulf States “was not just a leap in the air,” the paper added.

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The newspaper described  Zarif’s remarks as “the threshold to a Saudi-Iranian dialogue initiative on which Baghdad worked to make it a success.”

“Riyadh is concerned about any US-Iranian dialogue tour that takes place outside its political radar. Riyadh seems at the same time terrified of any dialogue with Tehran about which Washington does not know in advance,” the newspaper stated.

Moreover, “the UAE military delegation, which visited Tehran on July 30 to agree on security and naval arrangements, was not a solo play, without prior coordination with Washington and Riyadh. Likewise, the peaceful statements made by Abu Dhabi about Tehran may have internal reasons related to the UAE but also fall within this framework of coordination between Abu Dhabi, Washington, and Riyadh,” the newspaper added.