Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met with Iranian officials before a second round meeting between Washington and Tehran on Iran’s nuclear program.
If diplomatic efforts fail to resolve rising tensions between the US and Iran, the visit repeatedly threatens to bomb Iran if President Donald Trump fails to reach an agreement with the US over nuclear-related activities.
Prince Khalid said at a meeting in Tehran on Thursday that he had sent a message from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We discussed the topic of bilateral relations and mutual interest,” he writes in X.
“Our belief is that relations between Iran’s Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia are beneficial to both countries,” Iran’s national media said at a meeting on Thursday, citing Khamenei.
Prince Khalid also met President Masuud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Bagheli, chief of staff of the Iranian army.
“Relations between the Saudi Arabian and Iranian forces have improved since the Beijing agreement,” Bagheli said after the meeting, according to Iranian national media.
Saudi Arabia said it welcomed Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the United States and supported efforts to resolve regional and international conflicts.
Political analyst Hamidreza Golamzadeh said the aim of Saudi Defense Minister is likely to express concern about a potential attack on Iran.
“Saudi Arabia wants to share their concerns and reassure them that Iran does not want… The attack on Iran wants a better relationship with Iran,” he told Al Jazeera.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to a 2023 deal, mediated by China to reestablish relations after years of hostility that threatened the stability and security of the Gulf region and promoted the Middle Eastern conflict from Yemen to Syria.
“The Important Stage”
The Saudi Minister of Defense’s trip coincided with a visit to Iran by Rafael Grossi, chief of the UN Nuclear Watch Agency.
Iran and the US delegations are scheduled to gather in Rome on Saturday for the second round of negotiations through Oman, a week after longtime enemies held top-level talks since President Donald Trump abandoned the Landmark Nuclear Agreement during his first term in 2018.
Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has revived so-called “maximum pressure” policies, punishing economic sanctions against Iran, and threatening military action if Tehran does not agree to the deal.
“We are at a very important stage of these important negotiations. We know we don’t have time. This is why I am here… to facilitate this process,” Grossi said Thursday.
“We are working hard and want to be successful,” he acknowledged at a joint press conference with Mohammad Eslami, chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, that efforts to secure a deal were “not an easy process.”
When asked about President Donald Trump’s threat to attack Iran, Grossi urged people to “focus on our purposes.”
“Once you reach your goal, all of these things evaporate because there is no reason for concern,” he said.
In March, Trump wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning of possible consultations and military action if Iran refused.
Khamenei warned that talks with the US have started well, but they can prove that they are still not paying off.
“The negotiations may or may not,” he said Tuesday.
The Western government has long accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities, Tehran has consistently denied it.
Since the collapse of nuclear deals in 2018, Iran has abandoned all restrictions on its programme, enriching uranium to a purity of up to 60%, close to a 90% weapons grade level.
Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA are confused, but Iran has banned some of the most experienced inspectors of the Vienna-based agency.
However, despite tensions between Iran and the institution, its access has not been completely revoked.
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