Riyadh backs ‘maximum pressure’ to force Tehran to agree to talks

The US policy of maximum pressure on Iran is the only way to get Tehran to the negotiating table, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir said on Thursday.

The minister was in Paris for talks with French officials amid efforts to defuse the tension between the US and Iran and help Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and southern separatists end a stand-off in the southern port of Aden.

“We think that appeasement doesn’t work. Actions count, not words. Members of the Iranian government talk, but have no power. Those who have, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, don’t want to negotiate,” Mr Al Jubeir told French newspaper Liberation.

He was responding to a question about French attempts to bring the US and Iran together, including efforts to convince US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions on Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron tried and failed last month to broker talks between Mr Trump and Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The prospects of any talks between the leaders in coming weeks appear slim, with Tehran demanding US sanctions are lifted before any negotiations begin.

“As far as we’re concerned, maximum pressure is the only way,” Mr Al Jubeir said.

When asked about the status of talks between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and southern separatists, Mr Al Jubeir said it was crucial to end their differences to ensure focus could turn to battling the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and Al Qaeda militants.

“We are trying to reach peace between the Southern Transitional Council and the Hadi government. I think we are close,” the Saudi minister said.

The kingdom has hosted indirect talks between the two parties to rebuild the coalition fighting against the Houthi rebels that forced Abdrabu Mansur Hadi’s government from Sanaa five years ago.