Last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman made a statement on the normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
He said that Iran is a neighbouring country and Riyadh aspires to have a good and distinguished relationship with it.
In his statement, he stressed that Saudi Arabia wants to have mutual relations with Iran, but at the same Riyadh has negative problems in the relations with Tehran, such as nuclear problem and Iran-backed militant groups in the region.
"We want a prosperous Iran and to have mutual interests with each other, but our negative problem with it is its negative actions such as its nuclear program or support for outlaw militias in some countries in the region and the ballistic missile program,” Bin Salman said.
According to Saudi Crown Prince, the partners of Saudi Arabia could play a significant role in improving diplomatic relations with Iran.
"We are working with our partners to deal with this problem, and we hope to overcome it and have a good and positive relationship with everyone," he noted.
Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Cengiz Tomar, expert on the Middle East Studies and deputy head of Akhmed Yassawi University, made comments on the prospects for the normalization of relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to him, the main reason for Bin Salman’s statement on the normalization of relations with Iran is connected to the Presidential change in the US.
He said, after the Trump period, the US and Saudi Arabia will fight against Iran through different methods.
“The main reason for that is the presidential change in the US. Donald Trump was trying to form a front against Iran in the region with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Israel etc. But Biden has a different point of view. Nowadays Washington wants to focus on Russia and China more than Iran under Biden leadership,” expert said.
“The crown prince said that Saudi Arabia and the United States have 90 percent consensus on Iran. It means that the US will fight against Iran through a different method than Trump’s period. And Saudi Arabia will no longer fight against Iran’s expansionist policies in the region by supporting extreme Sunni movements,” he added.
In his statement, Saudi Crown Prince also stressed the importance of working with global and regional partners to deal with problems and normalize the relations with Iran.
He hopes that the Kingdom, with help of partners, could overcome problems in the relations with Iran.
According to Turkish expert, the United States may be a country playing a significant role in the improving relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“US may play a significant role in improving relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran while changing its policies towards Iran. But Israel definitely will not be happy with that. At the same time, Riyadh concerns over the existing serious problems with Iran, such its nuclear and ballistic missiles program, as well its support for militant groups in the countries in the region.," he noted.
"As long as Iran does not give up its nuclear program and to support militias in the region, it is difficult to think about the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Tehran in the short term,” he added.
Furthermore, Cengiz Tomar touched upon the issues of Saudi and Iran-backed militant and secretarial groups, and proxy wars between Tehran and Riyadh in the region of the Middle East.
He said that there is a strong tension between the Kingdom and Islamic Republic in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon for the long-term.
“Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Saudi Arabia’s response to sectarian-based foreign policies of Iran, such as the spread of its influence and the export of revolution in the region, not only increased instability in the Middle East, but also it further raised Islamophobia in the World. Terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hashd al-Shaabi and names such as Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Qassen Soleimani are mostly complications of the Iran-Saudi Arabian Conflict. The war in Yemen is also concrete example of the power struggle between the two countries,” he added
by Yunis Abdullayev
