Iranian foreign minister postpones visit to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia-Iran, Politics, 10/6/2005

The Iranian foreign minister Mano Shaher Muttaqi postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia that was due to be carried out yesterday.

The postponement of the visit came several days after accusations by the Saudi foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal to Iran of interference in the affairs of Iraq which adjoins Saudi Arabia, expressing fears of increased Iranian influence in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia denied the postponement of the visit is related to the existence of differences. One Saudi source said that the visit was postponed because of the "contradictory statements," giving no further details. The Saudi announcement did not indicate the period of postponement.

The source added that the Iranian minister asked for the postponement of the visit until Thursday but the Saudi officials preferred to postpone it until later following this request.

In Tehran, a source in the Iranian foreign ministry said that the visit came within a tour for Mutaqqi to the Gulf region that was not carried out because of the dates proposed by the two sides, but he added that the visit is still to be held, and its date will be determined later.

Officials in Riyadh and Tehran expressed doubts that the postponement is because of political tensions between the two main Sunni and Shiite forces in the region.

It was due that Muttaqi would hold talks in Jeddah on Wednesday with prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister. The tour of the Iranian minister to the Gulf came after Saudi Arabia openly criticized Iran of interfering in Iraq's affairs through its firm relations in the government which is dominated by the Shiite.

Saudi Arabia is concerned over the escalation of the Shiite influence in Iraq since the toppling the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Saudi foreign minister said, during the meeting of the Arab ministerial committee in support of Iraq held in Jeddah last Sunday, that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq increased the scale of sectarian conflicts to the extent that in this process, the US handed Iraq to Iran.

The Iraqi minister of interior Bayan Baqer Solagh criticized the statements of the Saudi minister saying "Iraq is not ready to learn from one Bedouin, rider of a camel." He also criticized the kingdom in being the dictatorship of one family that refuses to give any rights to woman."

Previous Stories:
  Iran's foreign minister heads to Saudi Arabia to contain looming crisis   (10/4/2005)
  Iraq's FM apologizes over interior minister's insults to Saudi Arabia   (10/3/2005)
  Saudi FM proposes Inter-Iraqi reconciliation under Arab umbrella   (10/3/2005)
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