Iraq Denies Report of Mediation in Iran-Saudi Dispute

TEHRAN (defapress) – The office of Iraqi President Barham Salih denied media reports that he is mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia by passing on a message from Tehran to Riyadh.

News ID: 73810

Date: 19 November 2018 - 12:45

In statement on Monday, the office dismissed media reports by some Persian Gulf Arab states that Iran has offered to negotiate with Saudi Arabia, and that the Iraqi president has agreed to mediate the talks and conveyed a message from Tehran to Riyadh.

Such stories are untrue, the statement said, adding that it is necessary to refer to authentic reports from reliable sources that comply with professional media norms.

As regards the details of Salih’s regional tour, the statement underlined that Iraq does not play the role of a mediator and only tries to stay away from the consequences of regional conflicts.

Iraq is a connection point between the mutual interests of the neighboring Arab and regional states, and tries to strengthen friendship and fraternity with full respect for the territorial integrity of other countries, it went on to say.

The president of Iraq arrived in Tehran on Saturday with a ranking delegation for a series of political and economic talks.

After talks with top Iranian officials, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, Salih travelled to Saudi Arabia as part of a tour that had taken him earlier to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

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