MIDDLE EAST ONLINE: RIYADH and LONDON - The Saudi-Iranian relations are going through a period of high tension that culminated in Saudi Arabia’s refusal to receive Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as part of his Gulf tour.Sources in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) confirmed the Saudi rejection. The Saudi move, they said, is due to the Iranian diplomatic and media campaign against the kingdom. The campaign comes against the backdrop of the Saudis’ support for the Bahraini government against what the Al-Khalifa, the Bahraini royal family which has been ruling the country for 300 years, called an Iranian coup plan.
According to the sources, the Saudis stressed that unless the Iranian government apologized for the vandalism done to its consulate in Mashhad and the attack on its embassy in Tehran, the visit of the Iranian minister could not be considered friendly, and that there would be no healthy foundations for the development of future relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The sources revealed that Salehi sought a Qatari mediation, but the Qataris affirmed that a continued direct contact between the two countries is better for the stability of the region. » | Middle East Online | Tuesday, May 10, 2011
