Saudi Crown Prince Offers Rare Olive Branch To Iran

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman struck an unusually conciliatory tone with Iran in a rare interview where he said the kingdom was working to resolve its differences with Tehran.

In footage broadcast on Saudi TV, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said all they wanted is to have a good and distinguished relationship with Iran.

His latest interview comes days after the Financial Times reported that Saudi and Iranian officials had held talks in Baghdad aimed at mending relations.

While Saudi officials publicly denied the report, an Iraqi official confirmed the meeting to AFP news agency.

Regarded as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince is seeking improved relations with Tehran as world powers and the US President Joe Biden seek to salvage the Iran nuclear deal that former president Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.

The prince’s remarks are in stark contrast to previous public remarks on Iran, a long-standing rival engaged in proxy warfare with Saudi Arabia for regional dominance across the Middle East.

Prince Salman has previously described Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an “evil guy and in a 2017 interview with Saudi television, the Crown Prince said he believed dialogue with Iran was impossible.

In 2018 the Crown Prince told The Atlantic that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made Nazi Dictator Adolf Hilter “look good”.