Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman had an important message from King Salman for Khamenei during a close-door meeting: Report

Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had a message from his father, King Salman, which he delivered to the Iranian leadership during a close door meeting in Tehran, according to reports.

Prince Khalid arrived in Tehran last month, a major visit in decades, two days before the US-Iran talks were set to be held in Rome. He had then met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

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Saudi Arabia’s 89-year-old King Salman bin Abdulaziz sent his son Prince Khalid with a warning for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters quoted two Gulf sources. Prince Khalid informed the leadership that they should take US President Donald Trump’s offer to negotiate a nuclear agreement seriously because it avoided the risk of war with Israel.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended the close door meeting with Prince Khalid.   

The Saudi Defence Minister argued that the region, reeling from an Israeli attack on Gaza and Lebanon, could not stand a further escalation in tensions.

Earlier, there were reports quoting Ali Al-Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the royal court, that Saudi had sent a message to Tehran that it would not be a conduit in any fashion towards an attack on Iran. He added that Prince Khalid informed the leadership that Saudi supported Trump's efforts to find a diplomatic solution.

This comes amid reports that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates told US President Donald Trump during his Middle East visit earlier this month that they oppose a military strike on Iran’s nuclear programme. These countries reportedly told Trump that he should work towards a nuclear deal with Iran. Qatari Emir Tamim Al Thani, Emirati President Mohammed Bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said that their countries would be targeted by Iran in case of an attack, Israeli media Walla added.

Middle East