Iran Says Saudis Invited Butcher President Ebrahim Raisi to Riyadh

Iran, the world’s largest Shiite country, and Saudi Arabia, government patrons of Islam’s two holiest sites, have struggled to contain each other’s influence for decades. They severed formal diplomatic ties in 2016, after a mob bombed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, and have since engaged in a proxy war in neighboring Yemen, with the Saudis supporting the country’s legitimate government, arming Iran, and aiding terrorists. Shiite Houthi movement.

Under former President Donald Trump, the United States mobilized opposition to Iran even more emboldened, enriched by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama who struck a deal with Tehran that included sending over $1 billion in cash to the state sponsor of terrorism. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Iran has found its relations with other neighboring countries, notably Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, deteriorating, along with its influence outside the war zones of Syria and Iraq.

An Iranian woman walks through a shop window in northern Tehran on July 9, 2022. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called a meeting with officials over non-compliance with hijab rules promoting corruption in an Islamic country like Iran. (Murtaza Nicobazel/NurPhoto by Getty)

Incumbent President Joe Biden’s administration welcomed last week that China is returning Iran to the good graces of its neighbors.

“There are no sour grapes here,” White House official John Kirby said last week.

“[I]And Kirby continued: “If this thing has the effect that we want it to have, then this is a good thing, and the president is very satisfied with our leadership in the Middle East region, the partnerships that we have there, the relations, and all the efforts that we are making to hold Iran accountable.”

The deputy chief of a chief court, Muhammad Jamshidi, announced that the Saudi royal family had extended an invitation to the president to visit the Saudi capital via a Twitter message posted on Sunday. Jamshidi noted that Raisi accepted the invitation but neither side has yet started planning the date and time of the event.

Jamshidi wrote, according to a translation published by the Iranian newspaper Al-Dawla: “In a letter to the main president, the King of Saudi Arabia welcomed the agreement between the two brotherly countries, (and) invited him to Riyadh.” Press TV.

“The president welcomed this invitation and confirmed Iran’s readiness to enhance cooperation,” Jamshidi said. male.

Separately, Iranian government officials announce On Sunday, they proposed at least three locations to schedule a meeting between their foreign ministers and are awaiting a response.

The Saudi Arabian government has not confirmed or denied these reports as of press time.

A protester stands on a poster showing Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a demonstration in support of the Iranian Resistance Movement, on March 20, 2023 in Brussels. (LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

Human rights experts consider Raisi one of the worst human rights criminals in the world who is currently the head of government. In 1988, Raisi, who was then a high-ranking official in charge of the “death commissions”, was assigned to follow up advisory opinionor religious decree, issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordering the execution of between 5,000 and 30,000 political prisoners, many of them affiliated with the PMOI and opposition PMOI groups.

Saudi Arabia also maintains depressing Human rights record, offering its citizens almost no religious or political freedom and severe suppression of women’s rights. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has taken modest steps toward gentrification, such as legalizing movie theaters and allowing women to drive.

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping met both Mohammed bin Salman and my president recently — Xi visited Saudi Arabia late last year, while my president visited Beijing in February — shortly before the Communist Party announced that the two Middle Eastern countries had agreed to send ambassadors to each other again. . During Raisi’s time in China, Raisi emphasized Iran’s interest in expanding economic relations with China, which is already Iran’s largest trading partner.

“As two vibrant and dynamic human civilizations, Iran and China have been connected to each other through the historical Silk Road, and they are certain of the fact that prosperity and happiness as desirable popular goals can only be achieved through interaction and cooperation,” Raisi wrote in an opinion piece. People’s DailyOfficial Gazette of the Chinese Communist Party.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are both participants in China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), a global infrastructure plan billed as an effort to rebuild the ancient Silk Road. In fact, China is using the Belt and Road Initiative to plunge poor countries into onerous debts that undermine their sovereignty. Unlike most countries, Xi has invited Saudi Arabia to participate in the plan by helping to build projects in third countries, as Saudi Arabia’s booming economy makes it a poor candidate for BRI loans.

Last week, Iran and Saudi Arabia announced the restoration of relations, which China declared the death knell of American influence in the region.

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