After years of proxy warfare, Saudi Arabia’s secret talks with arch-rival Iran signal a high-wire diplomatic act as it scrambles to rein in Tehran-backed Yemeni rebels, although prospects of a breakthrough look remote.
Iraq has hosted talks between Riyadh and Tehran “more than once”, its President Barham Saleh, an ex-premier of Iraqi Kurdistan, said Wednesday, following reports that a Saudi delegation led by intelligence chief Khalid bin Ali al-Humaidan met Iranian officials in Baghdad on April 9.
The manoeuvres come as US President Joe Biden pushes to revive the tattered 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, which was abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump.
The reinvigorated diplomatic effort underscores a realisation in Riyadh that Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy aimed at squeezing concessions from Iran has not worked, analysts say.