Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said his country will be willing to develop relations with Iran if the Islamic Republic changes its “hostile” policy of interfering in the internal affairs of the countries of the region.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin on Monday, Adel Al-Jubeir said: “Iran must change its hostile policies if it actually wants to have relations of good-neighborliness and respect with its neighbors.”
Jubeir said Tehran’s blatant interference in the region is responsible for the turmoil in several Arab nations, including Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
The Saudi FM also said “the Kingdom is closely monitoring Iran’s quest for uranium enrichment,” and that Tehran’s refusal to allow inspectors into its nuclear facilities was a sign of its intent to go ahead with the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Jubeir’s remarks come one day before his meeting with Sergei Lavrov, Russian’s foreign Minister, in Moscow on Tuesday.
The meeting is expected to concentrate on finding a solution for the Syrian crisis and discussing efforts to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) whose militants control large parts of Syria and Iraq.
Russian diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat Moscow “will intensify contacts with representatives of the Syrian opposition” after Tuesday’s meeting between the Russian and Saudi foreign ministers.
A delegation of the Syrian National Coalition, Syria’s main opposition group, is expected to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday.
Khaled Khoja, leader of the western-backed coalition, will head the delegation to Moscow to discuss holding a third round of talks between the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the opposition. The first two rounds of the talks, dubbed Geneva I and II, failed to end the conflict in Syria, now in its fifth year.
