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Saudi Arabia to judge Iran’s Raisi by ‘reality on the ground’

Saudi foreign minister says he was ‘very concerned’ about unanswered questions on Iran’s nuclear programme.

In a bid to contain tensions between them, Saudi Arabia and Iran began direct talks [File: Fayez Nureldine/AFP]

22 Jun 2021

Saudi Arabia will judge Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi’s government by “the reality on the ground”, the kingdom’s foreign minister has said, adding that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on foreign policy.

Raisi, a hardline judge who secured an expected election victory on Saturday, said on Monday he wanted to improve ties with Gulf Arab neighbours while calling on regional rival Saudi Arabia to immediately halt its intervention in Yemen.

After six years of war, a military coalition led by Riyadh has failed to defeat the Houthi movement in Yemen. Tens of thousands have been killed in the war, which has caused what the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia also opposes the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that Tehran and Washington are trying to revive in indirect talks.

The accord between Iran and world powers, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, has been in tatters since the US unilaterally withdrew in 2018 under former President Donald Trump. Since the US pulled out and reimposed harsh sanctions, Iran has gradually lessened its own compliance with the deal.

“From our perspective, foreign policy in Iran is in any case run by the supreme leader and therefore we base our interactions and our approach to Iran on the reality on the ground, and that is what we will judge the new government on, regardless of who is in charge,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told a news conference in Vienna on Tuesday.