Saudi Arabia Has Never Offered Any Peace Deal To Iran - Zarif

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) Saudi Arabia has never offered any peace deal that Iran has refused, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with Sputnik on Thursday.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said on Wednesday in his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Riyadh had extended its hands to Iran "in peace with a positive and open attitude over the past decades, but to no avail." He also accused Iran of conducting attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

"With regards to Saudi Arabia's peace offer to Iran, the KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] has not offered at any time any peace offer that Iran has refused.

Our president [Hassan Rouhani] suggested last year in the UNGA the Hormuz Peace Initiative, and ... wrote to the Saudi king, who in a rude manner sent his response to Rouhani's suggestion to the king of Kuwait [Emir Sheikh Ali Jarrah al-Sabah]. Even we have responded to that letter of his," Zarif said, when asked whether Iran has rejected a Saudi peace offer.

Last fall, Rouhani sent letters to the heads of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council member states in a bid to de-escalate the regional tensions. Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah said that his country had conveyed Iran's messages to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as a mediator.