Dubai: Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that Iran’s talk of a possible rapprochement with the kingdom was laughable.
Speaking to journalists in London, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said Iran needs to change its policies for any rapprochement, adding that diplomatic exchanges with Tehran over arrangements for the annual Haj pilgrimage did not represent a normalisation of relations and that such contacts had nothing to do with politics.
Al Jubeir’s statement came hours after Iranian officials said Haj success opened the way for negotiations with Saudi Arabia.
“We thank Saudi Arabia for adopting a new approach in dealing with Iranian pilgrims,” said Ali Ghazi-Askar, the head of the Haj organisation in Tehran, according to reports in Iran.
“Right now, after holding a successful Haj, it is a good time for both parties to negotiate to resolve their bilateral issues in other fields,” Ghazi-Askar was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last month said the Islamic Republic would soon exchange diplomatic visits after the regional rivals severed diplomatic ties last year.
“The comments of the foreign minister are laughable,” Al Jubeir said. “If Iran wants to have good relations with Saudi Arabia, it has to change its policies. It has to respect international law.”
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“At this time, we do not see... that they’re serious about wanting to be a good neighbour,” Al Jubeir said. Iran’s Zarif was quoted by the ISNA agency as saying that diplomatic visits could take place after the Haj pilgrimage ended in the first week of September.
“We had the Haj season, and when we have the Haj, we try not to politicise it... But this is not normalisation,” Al Jubeir said.
Speaking on the Qatari crisis, Al Jubeir said that if the rift with Qatar continued for two years then “so be it.”
— With inputs from Reuters
