Saudi FM to visit Russia for Syria talks

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir will visit Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the Syria conflict and the Islamic State group with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign ministry said Saturday.

The two ministers last met in Qatar on August 3 when Lavrov, Jubeir and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a three-way meeting, with the situation in Syria topping the agenda.

The ministers will continue “a discussion on ways to resolve the crisis in Syria,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

Moscow said topics would include the “sharp growth in strength of various extremist groups, primarily the so-called Islamic State”.

“The ministers will discuss the possibility of Russia-Saudi cooperation in fighting terrorism, which is in the interests of both countries,” the ministry said.

It said they would discuss Russia’s proposal to create a “broad international coalition to fight the Islamic State gunmen inside Syria.”

Also Saturday, the London-based al-Hayat reported that Saudi Arabia has proposed a new initiative to end the conflict in Syria that would see Iran and its proxy Hezbollah pull their fighters from the country.

Citing “high-level Saudi sources,” the pan-Arab newspaper said that in return for an Iranian and Hezbollah withdrawal, Riyadh would end its support for the rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad in a bloody civil war now in its fifth year. This would then pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections under the supervision of the United Nations.

The report said that Saudi Arabia hosted Assad’s security adviser and close confidant Ali Mamlouk in July, a meeting that came some three weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in St. Petersburg with Saudi Defense Minister Muhammad bin Salman.

According to the report, Russia believes that Saudi support for the Syrian opposition has fueled the violence in the country, while Riyadh says it is ready “to do anything to stop the Syrian bloodshed.”

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem met Wednesday with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran to discuss the war in Syria, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported. A short time earlier, Muallem also met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who landed in the Iranian capital that same day.

Like the Syrian regime, Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy in the region, receiving funds and arms from the Islamic Republic, and has dispatched thousands of fighters to support the embattled Assad.

The Arab world has been polarized for years in a worsening proxy conflict between Iran and Gulf powers, particularly Saudi Arabia, fueling Sunni-Shiite tensions and stoking wars.

In Syria, Iran’s support has ensured the survival of Assad against Sunni rebels backed by Gulf nations in the devastating civil war.

Tariq al-Shammari, a Saudi analyst and president of the Council of Gulf International Relations, told the Associated Press last month that following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, Gulf Arab countries will work to try to keep Tehran isolated politically and economically, noting that Saudi Arabia in particular has already moved to improve ties with Russia, a strong ally of Iran.

AP contributed to this report