Saudi Arabia and Iran: the security agreement is on April 15

The Saudi minister of the Interior prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said he will sign a security agreement with Iran during an official visit to Tehran he will hold on April 15.

Prince Nayef was asked whether the delay in signing the agreement which was expected in February to have been attributed to differences between the two countries, he said in a statement to the Saudi daily Okaz " there are no differences between the two sides and that the two sides have agreed on the formula and that their security relations will be good."

Saudi Arabia says that the agreement aims at fighting crime and terrorism as well as drug smuggling and this agreement should not be viewed as a regional agreement for defense.

Saudi Arabia was quicker than several Arab Gulf states towards improving relations with Iran after years of exchanged doubts which followed the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979.

Earlier, the Saudi minister said that the agreement is " a security one and has no military dimension."

On January 18, the Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi said that the agreement constituted " an important development in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and will affect the whole region."

Kharazi explained that this agreement did not reach the level of security partnership or alliance although it states to chase persons who threaten the national security of the two countries."