Saudi Arabia requested Pakistan to speak with Iran.

 Saudi Arabia requested Pakistan to speak with Iran. According to the New York Times, Saudi Arabia and Iran have taken steps towards indirect talks aimed at defusing tensions in the Middle East, with Riyadh asking Iraq and Pakistan to discuss de-escalation with the Iranian leadership. 

 In a Saturday report, the Times said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) from Saudi Arabia asked Iraq and Pakistan leaders to intervene following the September 14 attacks on two Saudi oil facilities.The U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the attacks that wiped out five percent of the global oil supply, despite Houthi rebels from Yemen claiming responsibility for them. 

 But the Times reported that the reluctance of US President Donald Trump to order a military response “raised questions for the Saudis about America’s commitment to Saudi safety, which for decades has underpinned the Persian Gulf’s strategic design.”The lack of action by the United States “encouraged Saudi Arabia to seek its own solution to the conflict,” he added.The Saudi government told the Times that the talks had been proposed by Baghdad and Islamabad, but denied that the move was at the behest of MBS.Meanwhile, Tehran has said that talks with Riyadh are open.“Iran is open to beginning a dialog with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region,” said Al Jazeera last week in an interview broadcast by Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament.“A dialog between Iran and Saudi could address many of the security and political issues facing the region,” he said.

I would like to avoid war.

The Times, citing unnamed officials from Iraq and Pakistan, said MBS requested Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan to mediate during last month’s meeting in Jeddah. On September 19 to 20, Khan’s two-day visit took place.Khan was told by the crown prince: 

“I want to avoid war,” the senior official in Pakistan told the Times.Khan then spoke to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA).Once Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi visited Jeddah on September 25, according to a senior Iraqi official who spoke to the Times on anonymity condition, MBS made the same demand.The official said Iraq had proposed its capital, Baghdad, as the location for a possible Saudi-Iranian leadership conference.

On numerous conflicts in the Middle East, including the wars in Yemen and Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran took opposing sides. Riyadh has supported Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, where the U.S. president imposed sanctions on Tehran after Washington dropped a historic agreement that curbed Tehran’s nuclear program. 

 Analysts told the Times that any agreement between the two regional powers would have far-reaching effects on Trump’s attempts to isolate Iran in particular.Rouhani declined a meeting at the UNGA with Trump, refusing any negotiations between the two countries until Washington lifted its sanctions. He also called on regional countries to join a “coalition for hope,” which he said would pledge non-aggression and non-interference in the affairs of each other.Last week, Abdul Mahdi told Al Jazeera he believes that Saudi Arabia is trying to de-escalate tensions with Iran.No one has the weapons necessary to handle a fatal blow to their opponent. 

Chaos and destruction will strike the world as a whole, “he said.” Everyone is open to dialogue, “said the Iraqi prime minister.”Iran says it is willing to negotiate if sanctions are lifted; the US[ also] is calling for dialog… Neither does Saudi Arabia close the door to dialogue.” “Some nations and Iraq is one of them, can offer a solution or a place to find a solution. A news report on Saudi Arabia requested Pakistan to speak with Iran. 

Source: APN