Saudi Arabia plans for fifth round of talks with Iran

Riyadh's Foreign Minister voiced hope there was a serious desire by Iran to find a 'new modus operandi' in the region

Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that Riyadh remained interested in talks with Iran. EPA

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister said on Saturday that Riyadh was looking to schedule a fifth round of direct talks with Iran despite a “lack of substantive progress” in previous rounds.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, also voiced hope there was a serious desire by Iran to find a “new modus operandi” in the region.

Saudi Arabia and Iran launched talks last year amid a push by global powers to salvage a nuclear pact with Tehran.

Prince Faisal said if the 2015 nuclear deal was revived that should be “a starting point, not an end point” in order to address regional concerns, and that Riyadh remained interested in talks with Iran.

“That will indeed require from our neighbours in Iran a serious desire to address the underlying issues that exist … We hope that there is a serious desire to find a new modus operandi,” he said.

“If we see substantive progress on those files, then yes rapprochement is possible. So far we have not seen that.”

Earlier this month, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran was ready for more talks if Riyadh was willing to hold them in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.

Prince Faisal said Iran continued to provide the Houthi rebel group in Yemen with ballistic missile and drone parts as well as conventional weapons.

“This does not contribute to finding a path to settle that conflict, but we are committed and we are supportive of the United Nations representative,” he said.

Prince Faisal also said in Munich that Lebanon must offer stronger signals that it is serious about reform to secure support from the international community as it struggles with a financial crisis.

“Lebanon first needs to be actively saving itself … We need a stronger signal from the Lebanese body politic that they are going to step up.”

He said this included stabilising the economy and addressing issues of corruption and mismanagement as well as “regional interference and loss of state sovereignty".