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Iranian Diplomacy’s interview with Dr. Davood Aghaei, a university professor and expert on Middle Eastern affairs

- Saud-al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, cancelled his speech at the UN General Assembly. There has been talk that the reason was issues related to Syria and Palestine and also Iran-US closeness. What was, in your opinion, the reason behind this decision?

- Diplomats, foreign ministers or representatives who attend the annual meeting of the General Assembly have the opportunity to use this platform to voice their views to international public opinion. In fact, this is a valuable opportunity for all countries of the world to address the international community and express their viewpoints.

There are different opinions with regard to the cancellation of the Saudi Foreign Minister’s speech at the UN. Some state that Saudi Arabia left the meeting because of Iran’s positions with regard to Syria or the closeness between Iran and the US.

But I will base my reason on the statements made by Dr. Zarif in an interview with Iranian national television. He said that none of these assumptions are right and that Mr. Faisal left the UN and returned to his country due to his illness. Faisal has made the same statement in an interview in Saudi Arabia. He has also somehow expressed his interest in the establishment of relations between Iran and the US. But he has also proposed conditions that Iran should take specific practical steps to assure the international community that it is serious in its proposed program.

- There have been talks that Saudi Arabia has invited Hassan Rohani for the Hajj ceremonies so that negotiations would take place on the sidelines. A few days ago, there was also talk of their friendly invitation of Hashemi Rafsanjani. Is Saudi Arabia attempting to thaw the cold relations between Iran and this country?

- Saudi Arabia and some other Persian Gulf states or the Middle East countries, which are US allies, took the most advantage of the cold Iran-US relations and even inflamed the differences. They did not want relations between Iran and the US to be established. Now that they feel that such grounds are prepared, they have become concerned. The fact is that the Arab states consider the conditions that if relations between Iran and the US are established, then they should review their policies otherwise they might later regret it. Therefore, the Iranian officials and the people would refer to relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and remember the positions which have been taken against Iran.

Thus, it must be said that the Saudi approach today is somehow a forward escape. They feel that if relations are supposed to be established between Tehran and Washington, it will certainly impact their relations with Iran, hence, they attempt to prepare the ground for the expansion of relations because Iran is also interested in deepening its relations with these countries.

- What are the serious issues of difference between Iran and Saudi Arabia and could they be resolved?

- They can naturally be resolved. But the fact is that Iran has deep ideological and political contradictions with Saudi Arabia on regional issues. In the area of ideology, Wahhabism has natural hostility towards Shiism and the Shiites. Some radical Wahhabi and Salafi movements believe that the Shiites are infidels and pouring their blood is allowed. The Wahhabis have acted on this basis and confronted the Shiites in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Furthermore, besides this ideological issue, there are differences which exist between Iran and Saudi Arabia with regard to Iraq, Syria, and the three Iranian islands. The Saudis acted against Iran in these three issues. In Iraq, when they felt that the Shiite government had reached power by relying on the people, they made great efforts to overthrow or weaken it. Saudi hands are behind all the suicide bombings which take the lives of many people in Iraq every day. In Syria, they openly support the radical and al-Qaeda groups that stand against the Shiites and the Syrian Alawis, and have, in fact, somehow acted against Iran.

With regard to the three islands, the Saudis have, from the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, stood against Iran and several times during the war with Iraq showed that they are in confrontation with us. Following the war and perhaps in every single one of the statements which were issued in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council summits, they condemned Iran with regard to this issue asking why Iran does not give them to the UAE. It was said that Iran must either accept that this issue be referred to the International Tribunal in the Hague or enter negotiations to return them.

These three issues have always been matters of difference between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Whenever the Saudis have felt that Iran can defend itself and has taken measures to expand its influence in the region and beyond it, they have stood against Iran and paid a heavy price for it. They have spread Wahhabism and taken retaliatory measures against Iran.

- The issue of Bahrain is also one of the most important issues of difference between the two countries. What is the root of this difference and are there any grounds for cooperation to reduce the tensions?

- Yes, the issue of Bahrain is one of the very sensitive issues which has challenged both countries during the last two years. Iran as a country which supports regional countries believes that the basis of democracy wherein the ruling regime must be voted in by the majority of the people and their votes must be respected is not enforced in Bahrain where the majority of the people are Shiites and have been, for the past 300 years, under the rulership of Sunni rulers. Recently the protests of the people who have entered the scene to demand their rights have been severely suppressed. The Saudis have dispatched their forces to this country with the excuse of the agreement they have signed within the framework of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. But we must not forget that this agreement is a defense and security agreement and should be enforced whenever one of the states of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council is invaded by foreign forces. The dispatch of defensie forces is legitimate, but in this case the people of Bahrain protested against an oppressive regime to gain their legitimate and legal rights and the Saudis militarily intervened. This issue is also considered as an issue of confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia which has inflamed the differences.

- Considering the created atmosphere and the existence of these rooted differences, is the resolution of these differences possible?

- The principal differences will not be resolved, but historical experience has shown that Iran can have close cooperation with Saudi Arabia. In the 1987 Hajj ceremonies, a great number of Iranian pilgrims were killed and even Imam Khomeini at that time said that if we forgive the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union, we will never forgive the al-Saud regime. But this issue was somehow forgotten during the Hashemi Rafsanjani presidency and the common interests of both countries became the priority and close relations were established between Tehran and Riyadh. This relation continued for a long time and until the end of Khatami’s presidency. Thus, experience has shown that despite deep ideological and political differences, the two countries can ignore these problems and cooperate with each other. Both countries have reached the conclusion that their interests are in their cooperation and they will better be provided in this way. I believe that the two governments can somehow ignore their differences and the grounds are prepared for this to happen.