Also meetings with the Emiratis, Jordanians and Egyptians:
The details: While the Financial Times on Apr. 18
broke the story that Iranian and Saudi officials had met in Iraq earlier this month, with the first round of dialogue reportedly taking place on Apr. 9, Amwaj.media understands that at least five prior meetings between Iranian and Arab officials were held over January and February.
- The parallel engagement is said to have initially brought together Iranian and Emirati officials in January.
- After the conclusion of talks between Iran and the UAE in Iraq, Iranian and Saudi security officials met for the first time.
- Iraqi sources have revealed to Amwaj.media that the third meeting brought together an Iranian delegation with counterparts from Jordan in addition to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- In the fourth meeting, representatives from Egypt joined as well.
- The fifth meeting, the source stated, was in essence “indirect US-Iranian talks,” without further elaboration.
- Of note, all meetings over January-February were chiefly between security officials.
Amwaj.media has further learned that the Apr. 9 meeting in Baghdad between Saudi and Iranian officials was attended from the Iranian side by officials from multiple state bodies.
Beyond members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, other Iranians in attendance included officials from the foreign and intelligence ministries as well as Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The composition of the Iranian delegation had so far been unknown, with no confirmation whether Qa’ani had been in attendance.
The main subject of the Apr. 9 talks was the situation in Yemen, though another source familiar with the meetings told Amwaj.media that the talks also touched on Lebanon and Syria on some points.
The scoop: The ongoing engagement between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Iraq follows a series of secret meetings held earlier this year which brought together several other regional actors, Amwaj.media has learned...
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