The London-based Financial Times reports that Saudi Arabia and Iran have held direct talks in Iraq on easing tensions, with the process being facilitated by Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who held talks with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh last month.
A unnamed senior Saudi source denied the meeting took place, according to the Riyadh-based Arab News.
The April 9 meeting in Iraq did not lead to any breakthrough, the Iranian official and one of the regional sources familiar with the matter said.
According to the report, there were three primary drivers for the meeting: first, an attempt to bring a conclusion to the ongoing war in Yemen, second, the Biden Administration’s interest in reviving a nuclear deal with Iran, and third, for Crown Prince Mohammed and top Saudi leaders to be seen as taking “steps that appear to lean towards gaining favor with the Biden administration.”
Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who held talks with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh last month. “It’s moving faster because the US talks [related to the nuclear deal] are moving faster and [because of] the Houthi attacks,” the official said, per the FT.
The Arab News report denying the meeting took place only cited a “senior Saudi official” and did not provide any additional information, other than to point out that neither the Iranian and Iraqi governments provided the FT with a comment.
“But a senior Iraqi official and a foreign diplomat confirmed the talks,” the Financial Times reports. “The Iraqi official added that Baghdad has also facilitated ‘communication channels’ between Iran and Egypt, and Iran and Jordan. ‘The prime minister is very keen to personally play a role in turning Iraq into a bridge between these antagonistic powers in the region,’ the official said.”
