A rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran would set a positive direction for development in the region and the settlement of a number of conflicts, including the situation in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian President's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Monday at the opening of the 11th Middle East Conference of the Valdai international discussion club.
"In this case, such major, important players as Saudi Arabia and Iran, in our opinion, if they managed to bring their positions closer and in terms of settling a number of controversial points not only in bilateral relations, but also in regional terms, here I can mention Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, this would be, in our opinion, a very positive direction of general development," he said.
As Bogdanov noted, the Russian side has repeatedly offered its partners in Tehran and Riyadh its mediation and Moscow as a venue for meetings. "In this regard, of course, our proposal is on the table, but we express our satisfaction that contacts have begun in Baghdad," he added. - "As I understand it, four meetings have already taken place in Baghdad, but at the level of mostly representatives of the intelligence services, which is just about security".
"I think that all our partners and Arabs, Iranians and Israelis also have an interest in the fight against international terrorism and extremism to be as efficient as possible, which requires collective approaches and agreements," the deputy foreign minister emphasized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS