Saudi Official Highlights Importance of Tehran-Riyadh Talks

“It is very important for Iran and Saudi Arabia to talk because they both play a role in the region,” said Abdullah Al-Askar, head of the foreign policy committee on Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council, Arab News reported on Tuesday.

He also said Saudi officials want to hold talks with their Iranian counterparts over what he called Tehran's meddling in Iraq and Syria.

The comments come against the backdrop of a report by Jordanian security officials that Saudi Arabia aided Israel in launching a spying drone which was shot down near a nuclear facility in central Iran.

The Jordanian security officials did not detail the kind of assistance provided by the Saudis, but it is likely to have included the use of a Saudi airbase, the WND reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh revealed that Israeli drone had taken off from a regional country.

“The operational range of this spying drone reveals that it had not taken off from the occupied territories, but the departure was from one of the regional countries. We have found some clues in this regard and are exploring them,” he said on Monday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Monday left Tehran for Riyadh in the first visit to Saudi Arabia by a senior government official since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013.

He is scheduled to meet Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal on issues of mutual interest.
Earlier this month, Faisal had voiced his country's preparedness to boost bilateral ties with Iran.

“We are ready to improve bilateral ties based on common interests, honesty, and openness,” Faisal said when receiving the credentials of Iran’s new ambassador to Riyadh Hossein Sadeqi.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, as the two key regional powers, have tried in recent years to turn their traditional rivalry into cooperation.