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Iran, Saudi Arabia hope talks ease tensions

Their relations have been strained since Iran's refusal to stop uranium enrichment.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 4, 2007

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - On his first official visit to Saudi Arabia, Iran's president held crucial talks Saturday with King Abdullah that are being touted as a possible means to defuse sectarian tensions in the region and prevent Iran from sliding further into isolation.

The two countries have had chilly relations since the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose refusal to suspend uranium enrichment has led to U.N. Security Council sanctions and made Iran's Arab neighbors increasingly wary of the country's nuclear program.

But Abdullah met Ahmadinejad at the airport before the two headed into a meeting. The king later threw a banquet in his guest's honor, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi and Iranian analysts said cooperation will benefit both countries, as well as the whole region. Shiite-majority Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia are on different sides of the conflicts that are threatening to ignite the Middle East - Iraq and Lebanon - and the Saudis have expressed concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi analyst, said the kingdom would not have agreed to receive Ahmadinejad "if it didn't know that the visit would add to its political achievements."

Top diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany negotiated Saturday on possible new sanctions against Iran. None of the governments commented immediately after the conference call.

A breakthrough on the Muslim sectarian divide could also pave way for the success of a conference Saturday in Baghdad of Iraq's neighbors - Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia - as well as the United States and other Western powers, and the annual Arab summit, which will be held at the end of the month in Riyadh.

"Iran has proved its capability of destabilization," wrote Ghassan Sharbil, the Lebanese editor of Saudi-owned al-Hayat daily. "Now, it's time to prove its ability to participate in creating stability."

"Ahmadinejad can invest in this summit to calm down the Arab world, the Islamic world and the whole globe in order to protect Iran against isolation, the dangers of an American strike and a new resolution by the Security Council," he added.

Riyadh broke off ties with Iran in 1988, accusing it of supporting terrorism and subversion. They were restored shortly after the 1991 Gulf War, but relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia plummeted again following Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.

Since then, Arab Gulf countries have offered quiet support for moves against Iran's nuclear program that the United States and its allies fear is aimed at creating weapons. Iran says its program is solely for peaceful purposes.

The chill in relations is partly due to Ahmadinejad's tough anti-Western talk, which has raised suspicions among Sunnis that Tehran is trying to expand its influence in the region.

"Since Ahmadinejad's harsh rhetoric is partly responsible for the cooling in relations, he is (now) taking this step to redress (the situation)," said independent Iranian writer Saeed Leylaz.

[Last modified March 4, 2007, 01:07:35]