Saudi Press Agency/Reuters
Saudi Arabia is open to mediating between the Trump administration and Iran in pursuit of a new deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear program, CNN has learned.
The kingdom is concerned that Iran may be more inclined to pursue a nuclear weapon now that its regional proxies – long viewed as a deterrent against Israeli attacks – have been significantly weakened. Saudi Arabia hopes to leverage its close ties with President Donald Trump to provide Iran with a diplomatic bridge to the White House.
It is unclear whether Saudi Arabia has made a formal offer, but the move underscores Riyadh’s desire to build on its improved relations with its former foe and secure a seat at the negotiating table for a potential new deal.
While Trump has said he wants to enter talks for a new deal, the message from Iran has been mixed, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying last week that talks with the United States were “not smart.”
The US State Department and the Saudi foreign ministry didn’t respond to CNN’s requests for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said it had no comment.
Saudi Arabia publicly welcomed the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers but privately seethed over the Obama administration’s failure to address its concerns about Tehran’s regional activities – particularly its missile program and proxy groups from Yemen to Iraq and Lebanon, which Riyadh viewed as a threat to regional stability. It later welcomed Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the deal.
A year after Trump’s withdrawal, Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities suffered a major drone and missile attack that temporarily cut the crude production of the world’s largest oil exporter in half. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group claimed responsibility, but the US blamed it on Iran – ultimately stopping short of military action in defense of its Saudi ally.
But tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have eased significantly since then. In March 2023, the two countries made a surprise announcement to normalize relations in a China-brokered agreement. Saudi officials view the deal as a major success, believing Riyadh has reaped its benefits – Houthi attacks on Saudi territory have ceased, and the kingdom was spared in last year’s tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran, despite fears that Tehran might hit Gulf Arab oil installations if its own facilities were hit by Israel.
Over the past 15 months, Israel has significantly weakened Iran-allied groups in Lebanon and Gaza and has struck targets in Syria, Iraq and as far as Yemen. Combined with the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, these developments have dealt a serious blow to Iran’s ability to project power beyond its borders.