Ahmadinejad: Iran, Saudis must provide for Muslim needs (2nd Roundup)

Mar 3, 2007, 23:11 GMT

Riyadh/Tehran - In his first meeting Saturday with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Saudi Arabia are obliged to help meet the needs of the Islamic world.

'Iran and Saudi Arabia are two great and powerful Islamic countries and accordingly have numerous mutual obligations and responsibilities in the Islamic world and Middle East,' Ahmadinejad said in a statement on the website of the Iranian presidential office.

'The eyes of hope of Islamic nations are focused on these two countries, expecting from us to settle their problems and cover their needs, and therefore bilateral ties should be far beyond relations by just two neighbouring countries.'

Ahmadinejad further said that in the current critical juncture, 'coordination between Iran and Saudi Arabia could strengthen identity and greatness of the Islamic world.'

The Iranian president thanked the Saudis for their efforts during pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina, attended every year by millions of Muslims worldwide including more than 80,000 Iranians.

He called for expansion of ties in the fields of business, energy, culture and theology.

The Iranian website quoted Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz as saying that Saudi Arabia is the 'second home country for Iranians.'

'Today, the Islamic world has many enemies who want to sow discord between the two countries, but our two nations are Muslims with a united belief and therefore enjoying good relations,' Abdullah said.

'We have the duty to confront the enemies with wisdom and reason and not allow them to realize their aims of sowing discord.'

Abdullah regretted the short duration of Ahmadinejad's visit and said that there had been 'numerous issues' that the two states needed to discuss.

According to the report, the two officials continued their talks behind closed doors.

Saudi sources said that the meetings were followed late Saturday by a dinner for Ahmadinejad, attended by key princes in the kingdom.

In his first official visit to the Kingdom, Ahmadinejad had arrived Saturday afternoon in Riyadh for talks with Abdullah.

Ahmadinejad was received by the Saudi monarch and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, secretary general of the National Security Council, who is known to be close to the Bush administration in Washington.

Before leaving Tehran, the Iranian leader told the press that he would 'talk with Saudi officials on what steps should be taken in the current juncture as far as the Islamic world and international community are concerned.'

'Iran and Saudi Arabia are two great countries willing to strengthen and expand bilateral ties on the basis of mutual respect,' Ahmadinejad said.

According to an earlier Arab News report, Ahmadinejad intended to focus on 'the situation in the Middle East and the latest developments in the region and the world of Islam.'

Latest developments in Lebanon and Iraq were on top of the agenda. Independent observers in the Middle East have recently said that Iran was trying to push the US to start a dialogue with Tehran aimed at stabilizing the situation in Iraq.

It was not until Saturday that Iran received proposals from the United States to hold talks on Iraq, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, quoted on the website of IRIB state television.

'As far as Iraq is concerned, our stance is very clear: we should all help the Iraqi government to establish full security,' Ahmadinejad told the press earlier. 'As far as Lebanon is concerned, the will of the Lebanese people should be respected, and we will support independence and the process to strengthen national unity.'

Diplomatic sources said that the Iranian and Saudi leaders would also discuss the controversial Iranian nuclear programme, opposed by Western states led by the United States.

In December, a United Nations Security Council resolution imposed sanctions on Iran for the first time and threatened further steps if Iran did not halt its nuclear activities within 60 days.

A report last week by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had in fact expanded rather than halted enrichment activities.

Observers considered the talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia unusual.

As a Sunni Muslim state, Saudi Arabia is a close regional ally of the United States - often termed the Great Satan by Shiite Iran - while bloody ethnic conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq also polarize Riyadh and Tehran.