Saudi will judge Raisi by reality on ground: FM

Iran is currently indirectly negotiating with the US in Vienna over how to salvage the nuclear agreement…reports Asian Lite News

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister on Tuesday said that the Kingdom will judge the President-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi’s government by “the reality on the ground.”

“From our perspective, foreign policy in Iran is in any case run by the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and therefore we base our interactions and our approach to Iran on the reality on the ground, and that is what we will judge the new government on, regardless of who is in charge,” the Arab News quoted Prince Faisal bin Farhan as saying.

During a press conference with his Austrian counterpart during his official visit to the capital, Vienna, the foreign minister said he was “very concerned” about unanswered questions on Iran’s nuclear program, an apparent reference to the UN nuclear watchdog seeking explanations on the origin of uranium particles found at undeclared sites in Iran.

According to Arab News, Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies continue to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran says is entirely peaceful, and its ballistic missiles. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003.

Iran is currently indirectly negotiating with the US in Vienna over how to salvage the nuclear agreement, from which former President Donald Trump’s administration unilaterally withdrew in 2018.

The new Iranian leader also called on Saudi Arabia to cease hostilities in Yemen. “Stability must return so that the people of Yemen can decide for themselves … whom they wish to give those management responsibilities to. And again we reiterate the most immediate cessation of attacks by the Saudis against Yemen,” he said.

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