Middle East News

Ahmadinejad visit to Saudi Arabia confirmed in Tehran

Mar 2, 2007, 11:07 GMT

Tehran - Tehran confirmed Friday a state visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Saudi Arabia, Fars news agency reported. Although Ahmadinejad was already been in Saudi Arabia in December 2005 to attend the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Saturday's visit will however be his first official one to the Saudi kingdom since his presidency began in August 2005. Fars said that the president will meet with Saudi King Abdullah and other high-ranking Saudi officials and discuss the latest regional and international developments. One of the main concerns of Shiite Iran in general and Ahmadinejad in particular is the growing rift among Shiite and Sunni Muslims, especially in Iraq and Lebanon, and the visit is therefore supposed to be a sign of unity between the Islamic sects. Also on the agenda will be the forthcoming conference on Iraq's security in Baghdad where Iran might have for the first time face to face talks with arch-enemy United States, a close ally of the Saudis. Shiite Iran is accused by the US of provoking tensions between Shiites and Sunnis and of arming Shiite groups in Iraq and Lebanon. Tehran has categorically denied these charges and said that all Muslim sects should keep their unity and confront what it called 'Western conspiracies.' As leading OPEC members, the two sides are also expected to discuss oil issues and ways to adopt a rational oil export quota. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Ahmadinejad visit to Saudi Arabia confirmed in Tehran

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