Riyadh floats Middle East non-aggression pact with Tehran - FT

Saudi Arabia has discussed a potential non-aggression pact between Middle East states and Iran as part of talks on managing regional tensions after the US-Israeli war ends, the Financial Times reported, citing diplomats.

Riyadh was considering a model similar to the 1970s Helsinki process that eased Cold War tensions in Europe, the report said citing two western diplomats.

An Arab diplomat cited by FT said that a non-aggression pact modelled along the lines of the Helsinki process would be welcomed by most Arab and Muslim states, as well as by Iran.

“It all depends who is in it — in the current climate you are not going to be able to get Iran and Israel . . . without Israel it could be counter-productive because after Iran, they are seen as the biggest source of conflict,” the report quoted the Arab diplomat as saying. “Iran is not going anywhere and this is why the Saudis are pushing it.”

The report said many European capitals and EU institutions support the Saudi idea and see it as the best way to avoid future conflict and provide Tehran guarantees that it would not be attacked again.

The FT also cited two diplomats as saying there were doubts about whether the UAE would join any such arrangement.

The idea of expanding the defense pact was first mooted before the war, the report added citing a Pakistani official.