Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because Tehran claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the ongoing mass anti-regime protests in Iran, two officials said.
An anticipated sixth round of talks, to be hosted by Baghdad, has not been scheduled because Tehran refuses to meet with Saudi officials as protests in Iran enter a fourth month, according to the Iraqi officials.
“The Iranian-Saudi negotiations have stalled, and this will have a negative impact on the region,” said Amer al-Fayez, an Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.
On his first official visit to Tehran in November, al-Sudani inquired about resuming the talks and mentioned he would be traveling to the Saudi capital of Riyadh soon.
But the Iranians told him they would not meet with Saudi counterparts and accused the kingdom of supporting country-wide protests in Iran through Saudi-funded media channels, according to an official who is a member of Iraq’s ruling Coordination Framework coalition, an alliance of mostly Iran-backed groups.
