Saudi Arabia seeks ‘normal’ ties with Iran, but urges reciprocation

Cairo: Saudi Arabia is interested in having normal links with Iran based on cooperation and mutual respect, the kingdom’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan has said.

“Our stance is clear. Our hands are stretched out to this [new Iranian] administration as they were to the previous one. We want to form normal relations with our neighbours in Iran,” he said at a press conference in Riyadh Tuesday night following an annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

“But this requires that they should respond in the same way and that they extend their hands to us. They should look to the future and to relations based on cooperation, co-existence and mutual respect, not to activities that affect the region’s security and stability,” the top Saudi diplomat said.

Over recent months, Saudi and Iranian officials have held Iraq-mediated exploratory talks, which have yet to make a breakthrough between the two regional powerhouses.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iranians of supplying arms to Yemen’s proxy Al Houthi rebels who have mounted dozens of cross-the border attacks into the Saudi territory.