Saudi-American summit not friendly: Expert
The former Iranian representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has said that Saudi Arabia feels such a lack of balance in its relations with the U.S. and is trying to add weight to this country by holding the Riyadh Summit.
Commenting on the upcoming summit of Riyadh which will be attended by the members of the GCC, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and the president of the U.S., Sabah Zangeneh referred to the issue of Iran in this summit and said that “in fact, holding such a summit is a kind of mobilizing regional countries toward the aims of Saudi Arabia which are trying to create a new atmosphere to contain the Islamic Republic Of Iran.”
Containing the Islamic Republic of Iran means containing its economic power and its ability to make political moves and play a serious role in the security of the region. So this action can’t be considered friendly, he told ILNA.
He also referred to the recent Iran-Saudi talks and the aims of these negotiations and said that it seems that Saudi Arabia has tried to use methods to reduce tensions between the two countries and also to use these talks as a sign to the U.S. to moderate its relations with Washington.
So it seems that Saudi Arabia has used these talks as leverage and it doesn’t show that Riyadh's strategies toward Tehran and the region have changed seriously.