Later on, as the meeting was publicly exposed, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed the meeting on April 25 during an interview on Saudi state-TV. In April, Saudi and Iranian officials gathered for closed-door direct talks in Baghdad. The initial talks began at a time when Washington and Tehran were negotiating on reviving a nuclear agreement that Riyadh and its allies had opposed. "Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, states in the Middle East are approaching the region differently with a greater focus on economic, trade, and investment opportunities and an interest in conducting less costly foreign policies.’’ “The talks between officials from Tehran and Riyadh come at a time in which many actors in the region are recalibrating their foreign policies," Cafiero told TRT World. “We hope these talks will resolve the issues stuck between the two countries and we are seeking to attain it.”Īccording to Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, the Saudis realised that their confrontational policy towards Iran simply was not working, especially considering the Covid-19 period. “The fourth round already took place on September 21 and these talks are still in an exploratory phase,” said Bin Farhan during a joint press conference with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. Recently, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud stated that the recent round has displayed that talks are at an “exploratory stage.'' However, this was the continuation of three rounds of Saudi-Iranian conciliatory talks which were held in Iraq months before Raisi took office as Iran's new president in August. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia confirmed holding the first round of direct talks with Iran's new government under Ebrahim Raisi last month. Longtime rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to resolve their conflicting issues and reduce tensions through dialogue as a new way of reconcilement.Īfter regional asymmetric warfare, proxy battles, mutual recrimination since 2016, Saudi Arabia and Iran have transformed their long-term Sunni and Shi’ite power struggle into direct talks as a new process for de-escalation began earlier this year.