Riyadh seeking a way to have talks with Tehran, says Saudi Foreign Minister at Davos summit

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud said the kingdom was trying to find a path to dialogue with Iran as the best way to resolve differences.

He said a decision by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to focus on their economies and development was a "strong signal to Iran and others in the region that there is a pathway beyond traditional arguments and disputes towards joint prosperity".

Riyadh and Tehran cut ties in 2016 but officials from the two countries have held five rounds of direct talks hosted by Iraq since last year, the last of which was in April, without achieving any diplomatic breakthroughs.

The Saudi Foreign Minister, speaking at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, also said there was a need to find a route to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, otherwise global uncertainty would continue.

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"This is a complex question, but we will have to talk about how we find a pathway to ending the conflict," he said.

Prince Faisal said attention on the Middle East was also needed, citing Syria as well as regional concerns over "provocative policies" by Israel's new government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu in an alliance with ultra-nationalists.

Netanyahu has pledged to pursue formal Israeli ties with Riyadh to build on normalisation pacts signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 under his leadership.

Saudi Arabia stopped short of formally recognising Israel in the absence of a resolution to Palestinian statehood goals.

Oil price stability

Prince Faisal said on Tuesday that oil price stability showed the kingdom was correct in its position during last year's row with the United States over the OPEC+ decision to reduce oil output targets.

Prince Faisal said his country, the world's top oil exporter, has a responsibility to continue to provide that stability to oil markets and world economies and that Riyadh would have a robust dialogue with traditional ally Washington to continue to work through any issues.

He said Saudi Arabia was committed to the clean energy future but that there was a need to ensure reliability in traditional forms of energy at the same time.

Agencies