Iran, Saudi Officials Hold Rare Talks
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Iran's intelligence chief visited Riyadh for talks with senior Saudi officials on security and political issues, a rare high-level session amid growing tensions between two Persian Gulf powers that have competed for influence in the region.
Saudi officials have intensified accusations against Iran in recent weeks, charging Tehran with inciting political unrest and a potential nuclear-arms race in the Middle East.
The meeting in the Saudi capital "helped us exchange ideas and policies about mutual security and politics and also clear some misunderstandings," said Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast.
In the talks, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, who is the Saudi interior minister, and intelligence director Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz discussed "issues of common concern" with Iran intelligence chief Heidar Moslehi, according to a Saudi Press Agency account published Tuesday.
The participants in the meeting, which took place Monday, suggested the discussions were substantial. Mr. Moslehi is an appointee of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and any message he brought to the Saudis would likely have come from the top. Prince Muqrin, meanwhile, holds particular influence in Saudi Arabia as one of the youngest surviving sons of King Abdulaziz, the founder of the modern, Sunni Muslim-led Saudi kingdom.
Officials in Saudi Arabia say Shiite-dominated Iran is inciting trouble among the Shiite populations of Gulf Arab countries. Iran and Saudi Arabia have sparred over Iranian support of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and over what Saudi officials allege is Iranian interference with Shiite rebels of Yemen, Shia political parties and militias of Iraq, and the Shia majority of Bahrain.
The rivalry flared in Bahrain this year when Saudi Arabia sent troops to back the neighboring Sunni monarchy against a predominantly Shiite uprising that officials from both Arab nations, as well as from the U.S., said was supported by Iran.
Saudi Arabia also faced concerns about its own Shiite population as popular uprisings of the so-called Arab Spring swept the region. Tehran denied the charges of interference.
More recently, Riyadh has campaigned for condemnation of what Saudis and the U.S. say was an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Iran denied the allegation, saying it was politically charged. On Tuesday, the U.S. ramped up its own pressure on Tehran, blacklisting two senior officials Washington says were responsible for human-rights abuses in the crackdown on Iranian protesters after 2009 elections.
Saudi Arabia and Iran also clashed over oil production at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. On Tuesday, Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi said he met Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi in Vienna ahead of an OPEC meeting on Wednesday to discuss production policy.
Charges that Iran is pursuing a nuclear-weapons program have dominated the public foreign-policy comments of Saudi officials in recent weeks, after the United Nations nuclear agency cited what it said was evidence that Iran was working toward building a bomb.
Gulf leaders are set to discuss bolstering a regional military force, in part due to unease over Iran's nuclear program, at a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting this month in Riyadh. Saudi King Abdullah met with the head of the six-nation GCC, Abdul Latif Zayani, on Tuesday, the Saudi news agency said.
Former Saudi intelligence director Prince Turki al-Faisal said last week that Arab Gulf states may be compelled to develop their own programs for weapons of mass destruction, if Iran moves ahead with what he alleged was a nuclear-arms program. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes.
Prince Muqrin, the Saudi intelligence chief, told The Wall Street Journal last week that Iran was "playing with fire." He shook his head when asked if Saudi leaders would support any pre-emptive attacks on Iran's nuclear sites. "We will be on the line to defend our soil, and that's it," Prince Muqrin said.
Earlier, in a speech to Gulf officials, he said Iran's nuclear program at a minimum was triggering a costly and unnecessary arms race in the Gulf. "I really, sincerely hope Iranians listen to their wise people," he said, referring to those in the Iraqi government who counsel restraint.
In his speech last week, Prince Muqrin that military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities would lead to massive disruption of the global oil supply and "gigantic chaos" world-wide.
Most prominent Saudi officials have stopped short of matching their warnings to Iran to fully open its nuclear program to inspection with threats of military action if it doesn't.
Despite longstanding suspicions, Iran and Saudi Arabia maintain contacts under a late 1990s security pact, said Saudi political analyst Abdullah al-Shamri. High-level Saudi-Iranian contacts spiked briefly in 2007, when a now-challenged conclusion by a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that Iran had likely ended its nuclear-weapons program led Saudi King Abdullah to welcome Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Riyadh.
Maintenance of diplomatic and security contacts may have helped give officials of both countries the venue to discuss significant issues on Monday, Mr. Shamri said.
"I think there were indications from our side the last two months that the patience of Saudi Arabia might run out," Mr. Shamri said. "Iran may be wise to sit down" with the Saudis, he said.
—Farnaz Fassihi and Hassan Hafidh contributed to this article.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203518404577096031404782816.html?mod=googlenews_wsjIran intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia for a rare visit to try to reduce tensions
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Diplomats say Iran's intelligence chief has met the Saudi crown prince in a rare visit to the kingdom, an apparent attempt to ease strained relations between the regional powerhouses.
The diplomats said Tuesday the visit a day earlier came upon request from Iran. They said it was believed to be an attempt to work out problems between Tehran and Riyadh, particularly following an alleged Iranian government plot to murder the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
Few details emerged from the meeting.
The diplomats said Prince Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz Al Saud, also the interior minister, discussed regional issues, including developments in Syria and Bahrain with Iranian Intelligence Minister Haidar Moslehi.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Iran to hold war game on closure Hormuz Strait: MPPRINT EDITION |
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West seeks Saudi Arabia's help on Iran oil sanctions
The U.S. and its allies hope the kingdom will boost output to prevent oil prices from climbing as they pressure Iran on its nuclear program.
A security guard walks through the Mahshahr petrochemical complex in Khuzestan province, in southwestern Iran. (Abedin Taherkenareh, EPA / September 28, 2011) |
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Officials in the United States, France, Britain and other countries have been lobbying the Saudis in recent weeks to produce billions more barrels of oil to provide an alternative source for buyers of Iranian oil.
The goal is to keep global prices stable while cutting Iran's ability to sell oil on world markets. The move would come as Western governments add more sanctions to dissuade international customers from buying from Iran, now the world's fourth-largest oil exporter.
A Western official said the Saudis have become "the great hope" for enabling the West to avoid an oil price increase while pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear development program. U.S. officials say Tehran is fast approaching the ability to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is enriching uranium to generate electricity in power plants.
The Saudis have given some positive signals, but Western officials say it's unclear whether they will follow through. Nor is it clear that the complicated scheme could avoid producing a destabilizing price surge that would push the world's fragile economies into a deep downturn.
Guy Caruso, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said Saudi Arabia had enough reserves to avoid a disruption in supply to Iran's European and Asian customers.
But he said oil prices could rise because of "psychological factors." If the Saudis pump enough to satisfy Iran's customers, the world oil production system "may be operating at 98% of capacity, and the markets do get spooked when you're operating that close to the margin," Caruso said.
Obama administration officials are already worried that new legislation in Congress could produce higher oil prices.
Lawmakers approved a defense bill Monday that would penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank. Administration officials persuaded Congress to weaken the bill by allowing the president to waive the sanctions if they appeared likely to cause oil prices to rise.
Advocates of the legislation acknowledge that higher oil prices could damage the U.S. economy but argue that Iran's potential development of a nuclear weapon poses a greater danger.
The United States and Europe have gradually tightened sanctions on Iran's energy sector, which provides about half the nation's revenue. The European Union is now considering another round of sanctions for early next year.
paul.richter@latimes.com
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