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Nawaz Sharif’s secret mission during Iran trip

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been on each others throats since decades. The tension between the two countries has been a cause of instability in the whole middle east with both nations openly threatening each other of grave consequences. Reasons are sectarian as well as political; grievances deep rooted and solution difficult.

After thousands of people have become a victim of the tussle between these two powers in recent years and some middle eastern countries thrown into anarchy in the the name of revolution, there is realization on the Saudi side that things may just be getting out of hand.

Saudis themselves perhaps would had been too egoistic for this thinking, but their ally United States of America is now in no mood to wage any sort of war on Iran and is instead pressing upon the Saudis to reconcile.

This reconciliation was a part of hidden agenda of the visit of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Iran. According to one official who was part of the PM’s delegation, Saudi message of reconciliation was not only forwarded  but Pakistani Prime Minister guaranteed that Saudis have a sincere will for negotiations and are looking to mend the ties.

Saudi attempts of reconciliation with Iran are not meant to be a secret as Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al- Faisal openly expressed yesterday (13 May, Tuesday) Saudi Arabia’s will to negotiate for improved relationship with Iran.

He stated:

“Iran is a neighbor, we have relations with them and we will negotiate with them,” the Saudi minister told reporters when asked on the issue in Riyadh.

“We will talk with them in the hope that if there are any differences, they will be settled to the satisfaction of both countries,” he said.

“Our hope is that Iran becomes part of the effort to make the region as safe and as prosperous as possible, and not part of the problem of the insecurity of the region.”

Faisal further stated that his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif had been invited to visit the kingdom.

Saudi’s sudden love for Iran is not one sided. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in December that he would like to visit Saudi Arabia and appealed to the kingdom to work with Tehran in the search for regional “stability.”

Saudi political analysts and writers are describing Prince al-Faisal’s announcement as a “bombshell” and a “major shift” in Riyadh’s position toward Iran. It is widely believed in Saudi journalist community that Iran must have offered something that led Saudi Arabia to open this window of talks but not many are aware of Pakistan’s important role in this arrangement.

One may ask what Pakistan has to gain from all this. The first would be stability. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran fund Wahabi and Shia extremists in Pakistan to try and popularize their version of Islam. This is one of the main reasons of instability in Pakistan and sectarian violence is on the rise. Nawaz Sharif can hope that both these countries will stop supporting and funding extremists in Pakistan after an improvement in relations between them, which will definitely help curb sectarian violence in Pakistan. Besides this, there would be economic benefits as Pakistan would be able to complete the much needed Iran-Pakistan pipeline while it remains an ally of Saudi Arabia. Being a part of an arrangement like this will also give Pakistan increased diplomatic leverage over these countries as well as US, which will be very useful as US looks forward to leave Afghanistan.

For the stability in the region in general and Pakistan in particular, we should all pray for the success of these talks and hope that Pakistan, for once, will be remembered for peace rather than war .

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