Webinar on ‘Saudi-Iran stand-off on peace talks’

Islamabad : The collapse of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and Iran-Saudi dialogue could forge a renewed set of tensions for both the countries, said Dr. Hamid Reza Azizi, Research Fellow, German Institute of International and Security Affairs.

Dr. Azizi was delivering a talk at a webinar on ‘Saudi-Iran stand-off on recent peace talks’ organised here by Institute of Regional Studies (RIS). Dr Azizi opined that in order to ensure constructive peace, it was imperative that both JCPOA and Iran-Saudi Dialogue must succeed. He was of the opinion that even if either one of the countries fail, the immediate consequence would be back and forth conflict. Iran-Saudi Dialogue had the potential of minimising sectarianism not only within but across the region, he added. Reflecting on the previous governments, he said that every Iranian president had worked to mend ties with Saudi Arabia. However, he said, there was a policy of balancing and counterbalancing being implemented in proxy battlegrounds of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. In that, he observed that the domestic political system, regional leadership competition were major factors in the ongoing Saudi-Iran rift. Dr Azizi stressed that Pakistan’s role was imperative in mediating the differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran.