Recent Saudi-Iranian Contacts to Resolve the Lebanon Crisis

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Special Dispatch-Lebanon/Saudi Arabia/ Iran January 26, 2007

No. 1441

 

Recent Saudi-Iranian Contacts to Resolve the Lebanon Crisis

 

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:

http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD144107 .

 

Background

 

In recent days, there have been many reports on intensive contacts

between Saudi Arabia and Iran, at the initiative of the latter, aimed

at

finding a resolution to the Lebanon crisis and preventing civil war in

Lebanon.(1) It should be remembered that during the July-August 2006

war, Saudi Arabia took a firm stance against Hizbullah, Syria, and

Iran,

and that recently Saudi King Abdullah invited the Hizbullah leadership

in order to chastise it and even to make veiled threats of economic

consequences.(2)

 

Al-Hayat: Syria Foils Saudi-Mediated Settlement of Lebanon Crisis

 

The London daily Al-Hayat, which is Saudi-owned and whose Saudi

sources

are therefore reliable, reported January 24, 2007, on the recent

Iran-Saudi Arabia contacts that preceded the January 23 escalation in

Lebanon.

 

According to the Al-Hayat report, the contacts for resolving the

crisis

gained momentum following Saudi pressure on Hizbullah during a January

3, 2007 meeting between the Hizbullah delegation and King Abdullah.(3)

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abd Al-'Aziz Khoja led a mediation

initiative, following which a draft agreement was drawn up between the

March 14 Forces and Hizbullah.

The draft agreement focused on two main issues, and reflected partial

concessions by both sides: The March 14 Forces agreed that the

international court for the assassination of former Lebanese prime

minister Rafiq Al-Hariri would be re-approved by the future Lebanese

national unity government (even though it had already been approved by

the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora) only after

a

working group discussed the reservations of the opposition. Hizbullah

Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah agreed that the future unity

government would include 19 ministers from the March 14 Forces, 10

ministers from the opposition, and one more minister to be appointed

only with the agreement of the March 14 Forces.

 

As the draft agreement was being drawn up, Iranian Supreme National

Security Council Chairman Ali Larijani visited Saudi Arabia. During

the

visit, Larijani arrived at an agreement with the Saudi leadership to

advance a resolution to the Lebanon crisis in accordance with the

draft

that the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon had sponsored.

 

The March 14 Forces agreed to the draft agreement, as did Iran, as

mentioned. However, Nasrallah delayed answering. Finally, on January

18,

during an interview on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV channel, Nasrallah

rejected the draft because it did not include General Michel Aoun's

demand for early parliamentary elections.

The next day, Saudi Arabia called Iran to find out what the holdup was

over the agreement. The answer it received was that senior Iranian

officials still viewed the draft agreement positively, and they

intended

to send Larijani to Syria on the coming Monday, January 21, in order

to

obtain Syria's agreement. The Saudis were also told that Larijani was

in

touch with Hizbullah as well.

 

On January 22, 2007, Larijani went to Syria and met with Syrian

officials and then with a Hizbullah delegation there. Sources

following

the contacts said that Larijani was heavily criticized during the

talks

in Damascus for accepting the inclusion of the international court in

the Saudi draft agreement. The talks ended with Syria's rejection of

the

draft agreement.(4)

 

Upon receiving this answer, Larijani briefly visited Saudi Arabia, on

Tuesday, January 23, bringing some alternate ideas suggested by Syria

– most of which gave the advantage back to Hizbullah. The Saudi

leadership would not agree to change the draft, and that day the

escalation in Lebanon began.(5)

 

Iranian-Saudi Talks Resume on Higher Level

 

Following this failure, in recent days the

contacts between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been renewed. The Lebanese

daily Al-Safir reported on January 24, 2007 that Iran had invited

Saudi

National Security Council Chairman Bandar bin Sultan, who was to meet

with both Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and with his Iranian

counterpart Ali Larijani.(6)

 

The Lebanon daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hizbullah, reported

today, January 25, 2007, that bin Sultan had delivered a letter from

King Abdullah to Larijani. It also said that Iranian Foreign Minister

Menouchehr Mottaki had spoken by phone with his Saudi counterpart Saud

Al-Faisal, and that the sides had decided to continue with their

mutual

consultations in order to arrive at a resolution for the Lebanon

crisis

that would satisfy all parties.

 

Mottaki stated to Iranian MPs that understandings had been reached

between Iran and Saudi Arabia with regard to Lebanon and Iraq, and

reiterated the firmness of Iran's position on these two issues.(7)

 

Iranian-Saudi Agreement Reached?

It should be noted that the declared position of Saudi Foreign

Minister

Saud Al-Faisal regarding Iran's intervention in Arab matters is that

he

sees this as "foreign interference." Thus, in a January 24, 2007

interview with the French daily Le Figaro, he expressed his objections

to France's sending an emissary to Iran to mediate in the crisis

because, he explained, this would give Iran legitimacy to intervene in

domestic Arab affairs.(8)

Following Bandar bin Sultan's meetings in Iran, he and Larijani held a

press conference January 25, 2007, at which they announced that Iran

and

Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement; however, the details of the

agreement remained concealed.

 

Despite the Saudi objections to the French visit, as expressed by

Saudi

Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, Ali Larijani announced during the

press

conference that in the coming days a French delegation would arrive in

Iran. Larijani added that "Saudi Arabia can play an important role in

solving the problems and instilling calm in the region, and Iran and

Saudi Arabia have common interests that can help expand their

cooperation..."

Bin Sultan, for his part, said during the press conference that "King

Abdullah has stressed the importance of unity and solidarity among the

countries of the region. Saudi Arabia believes that the countries of

the

region must ensure the region's independence, and not permit

foreigners

to interfere in this matter." He further stressed King Abdullah's

position that "the Islamic world must be alert to [attempts] by the

enemy to sow civil war... and not permit the enemy to arouse disputes

between Sunnis and Shi'ites – after all, we all worship one God..."

Bin Sultan added: "The countries of the region must be alert to and

aware of the problems existing [in the region], particularly in

Lebanon

and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Iran aspire to lead to unity among the

countries of the region... If solidarity prevails among the countries

of

the region, the foreign countries will not interfere in [their]

internal

affairs. In talks we [i.e. Iran and Saudi Arabia] held today, we

discussed the issues of the region, among them Iraq and Lebanon. We

hope

that these negotiations will lead to the consolidation of the

interests

of the countries and nations in the region... The foreign ministers

[of

Iran and Saudi Arabia] will continue to deal with the issues and the

agreements that were reached."

 

Finally, bin Sultan said that "Iran's nuclear dossier is in a very

sensitive situation, and as a rule it should be talked about less, so

that there will be fewer complications with this issue."(9)

 

In a speech yesterday, January 24, 2007, Hizbullah leader Nasrallah

said, referring to the Iran-Saudi contacts: "Allah will bless all

those

who help Lebanon, but every agreement between two countries or two

governments does not bind the Lebanese, because the Lebanese must seek

their own interests and not the interests of Saudi Arabia and

Iran."(10)

 

Endnotes:

(1) Actually, the talks are also aimed at reducing tensions between

the

U.S. and Iran.

(2) For more information, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No.

1414, "Despite

Arab Diplomatic Efforts, Hizbullah Threatens Violent Escalation – To

Begin this Coming Monday (January 8, 2007)," January 5, 2007,

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP141407 .

(3) See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1414, "Despite Arab Diplomatic

Efforts, Hizbullah Threatens Violent Escalation – To Begin this Coming

Monday (January 8, 2007)," January 5, 2007,

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP141407 .

(4) It should be noted that on January 24, 2007, Syrian President

Bashar

Al-Assad met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khaleifa Al-Thani.

During

the meeting, they discussed ways of bringing about normalization in

Syrian-U.S. relations, since the U.S. is close to the Qatari

leadership.

Al-Khaleej, UAE, January 25, 2007.

(5) Al-Hayat (London), January 24, 2007.

(6) Al-Safir (Lebanon), January 24, 2007.

(7) Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), January 25, 2007.

(8) Le Figaro (France), January 24, 2007.

(9) ISNA, Iran, January 25, 2007.

(10) Website of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon,

http://www.moqawama.org/ .

*********************

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