Iran’s Ministry Sees Signs of Change in Saudi Policies

Date: 24 January 2021 - 22:06

News ID: ۸۶۸۷۸

TEHRAN (Press TV) -- Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Saudi Arabia has begun to realize that its aggressive foreign policy has been a failure and appears to be revising some aspects of it accordingly, adding that the Islamic Republic would welcome any genuine change of approach by Riyadh.
"It looks like the Saudi officials have begun reforming some of their policies concerning interaction with some of the Persian Gulf’s littoral countries, having understood that war and bloodshed does not help them out any more, and also having despaired of their former allies,” ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in remarks to ISNA that the news agency published on Sunday.
Khatibzadeh said if Riyadh has seriously put reforms on its agenda and come to the conclusion that "regional cooperation” is the best way out of the region’s problems, the Islamic Republic will then be the first country to welcome the change.
"We have always emphasized that the regional countries should arrive at a common understanding regarding the regional problems,” he said, adding that such understanding would help establish a "security mechanism” that could be used to govern the region, Khatibzadeh noted.
In a recent interview with the Al Arabiya TV channel, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud alleged, "Our hands are outstretched for peace with Iran.”
However, the kingdom has so far left Iran’s proposals for negotiation and resolution of standing differences between the countries unanswered, Khatibzadeh said.
Iran’s steady growth and burgeoning regional influence has hardly sat well with the Saudi kingdom over the past years. Riyadh cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran in early 2016 after its execution of senior Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr prompted angry protests in front of Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.
Muhammad bin Salman’s designation in 2017 as the next in line to assume Saudi kingship was followed by an exponential increase in Riyadh’s animosity towards Tehran.
Under bin Salman, the kingdom along with the occupying regime of Israel put pressure on the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from a historic nuclear deal with Iran, which Washington did in May 2018 and restored its draconian sanctions against Tehran.
Khatibzadeh reminded that Saudi Arabia holds a long record of violations against the region, from the war on Yemen and support for regional militancy and takfiri terrorism to a 2017 Saudi-led regional blockade of Qatar.
Iran, by contrast, has been leading a responsible and at the same time lenient approach towards the regional issues and has exercised self-restraint in the face of misconduct by Saudi Arabia and others, he said.
Even if Riyadh has some security concerns, "the answer is not war,” Khatibzadeh.
"Some concerns may be delusional and lead to foreign intervention in the region,” he said, adding, "We are even prepared to discuss these delusional and notional concerns.”
Nevertheless, "the solution is in hands of the Saudis and they can solve this issue whenever they choose to,” the spokesman said.
Tehran, he said, has always invited the kingdom to negotiation. He cited a proposal by President Hassan Rouhani, dubbed Hormuz Peace Initiative (HOPE), which is designed to enable reconciliation and further cooperation among all countries of the region, as a case in point.

South Korea asked not to
politicize tanker issue

Khatibzadeh also addressed the issue of a Korean tanker that was impounded by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy on January 4 for endangering the Persian Gulf’s marine ecosystem.
The detention, he said, was a purely technical matter. Iran, he added, has urged Seoul – which has asked Qatar to mediate the vessel’s release – not to try to resolve the issue "through political channels.”
MT Hankuk Chemi’s crew have been provided with medical care and the highest level of consular service, he said. The vessel’s captain even talked with Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, who recently travelled to Tehran to address the issue of the ship among other things.

Iran’s UN Membership Fee

The spokesman also pointed to a letter by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in which he has listed the countries that have outstanding membership debts to the world body, including Iran.
Khatibzadeh said Iran has introduced the financial channel through which to pay the membership dues, but the U.S. sanctions have prevented the country from using the channels.
The Islamic Republic has been trying to pay up the debt from billions of dollars that South Korea is

withholding because of unilateral U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
"We have asked them [the UN] to tell us how we were supposed to transfer this money so Americans cannot block it,” the official said, reminding that Iran’s case differs from those of the countries that are in default of their membership fees.

Exchange of Prisoners With U.S.

Asked about a possible prisoner exchange with the United States, Khatibzadeh said Iran is open to the idea if the new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden chooses so.
The spokesman said charges facing those arrested in Iran are completely clear. "Some of these charges are serious, including abetting terrorist actions or military espionage and other measures against Iran’s national interests.”
This is while the U.S. arrests or has them arrested outside the U.S. only under the "hollow pretext” that they had bypassed Washington’s sanctions against Tehran.