Saudi Arabia plans for fresh round of talks with Iran, says Foreign...

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Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud stressed on Saturday that the kingdom was looking to schedule a fifth round of direct talks with rival Iran despite a "lack of substantive progress" so far, urging Tehran to change its behavior in the region.

After cutting ties in 2016, Saudi Arabia and Iran launched talks last year hosted by Iraq as global powers sought to salvage a nuclear pact with Tehran, which Gulf States deemed flawed for not tackling Iran's missiles program and network of proxies.

“If the 2015 nuclear pact was revived that should be a starting point, not an end point in order to address regional concerns,” he added, saying that Riyadh remained interested in talks with Iran.

He pointed out that “it will indeed require from their neighbors in Iran a serious desire to address the underlying issues that exist,” stating “they hope that there is a serious desire to find a new modus operandi.”

"If we see substantive progress on those files, then yes rapprochement is possible. So far we have not seen that," he told the Munich Security Conference.

Earlier this month, Iran's President Raisi said “Tehran was ready for more talks if Riyadh was willing to hold them in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.”

However, tensions between both countries spiked in 2019 after an assault on Saudi oil plants that Riyadh blamed on Iran, a charge Tehran denies, and continue to simmer over Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

Furthermore, Prince Faisal indicated that “Iran continued to provide the Houthis with ballistic missile and drone parts as well as conventional weapons, a charge both Tehran and the group deny.”

"This does not contribute to finding a path to settle that conflict, but we are committed and we are supportive of the United Nations representative," he explained, referring to stalled UN-led efforts for a ceasefire in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia plans for fresh round of talks with Iran, says Foreign Minister

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