 RIYADH - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Sunday expressed reservations over how Iran supports Arab countries, following talks with his Iranian counterpart. "As much as we appreciate Iran's support for Arab causes, we would like to see it channelled through Arab legality and be in harmony with its objectives," Prince Saud told reporters.
| Diplospeak for "quit messing around in our sphere of influence." |
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in the Saudi capital earlier on a previously unannounced visit. Prince Saud said Mottaki met King Abdullah and delivered a message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf. "I met him afterwards and discussed with him all these questions in a spirit of honesty, clarity and transparence," said Prince Saud, who welcomed Mottaki at the airport.
| And then they pulled the knives from each other's backs ... |
Mottaki's visit to the ultra-conservative Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia came less than a fortnight after Prince Saud called for a joint Arab strategy to deal with what he called the "Iranian challenge."
"In order to cement Arab reconciliation we need a common vision for issues that concern Arab security and deal with the Iranian challenge," he told a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on March 3. |