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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during an MBC interview
Photo: AFP
Saudi Arabia and Iran have been waging bloody proxy wars in the Middle East for years.
Arch-rivals are involved in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and diplomatic tensions in the Gulf continue to arise.
Now Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is surprisingly conciliatory.
According to media reports, representatives of both countries had previously met secretly in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
"Iran is a neighboring country, and all we strive for are good and special relations with Iran," Salman said in a television interview with the Saudi Arabian broadcaster MBC that was published late Tuesday evening. “We don't want Iran's situation to be difficult. On the contrary: we want Iran to prosper and bring the region and the world to prosperity. "Riyadh is working with regional and international partners to find solutions to Tehran's" negative behavior, "the Crown Prince said.
Salman's tone of voice towards Tehran was very different from that of the Crown Prince in earlier interviews.
In the past, Salman accused Iran, among other things, of fueling regional instability.
However, the Crown Prince did not comment on the reports of secret talks between representatives of Riyadh and Tehran in Baghdad.
Secret meeting in Baghdad
According to the Financial Times, representatives of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Baghdad on April 9 for a first round of negotiations, which was chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.
An Iraqi government official confirmed the talks to the AFP news agency.
Riyadh has officially denied the negotiations.
The regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran have long been enemies.
Both states are involved in the Yemen War: Riyadh leads a military coalition in the country in support of the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi against the Houthi rebels, which Iran is behind.
Recently, the attacks by the Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabian targets increased significantly.
In the television interview, Mohammed bin Salman renewed his call for a ceasefire and negotiations with the rebels.
Since the new US President Joe Biden took office in January, there have been signs of a power shift in the Gulf region.
Biden wants to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran, from which the US unilaterally withdrew under the then President Donald Trump.
mrc / AFP