Iran-Saudi Arabia Disputes Over Syria Reach Davos

Participants in a closed session of the Davos summit, aimed at discussing pathways to peace in Syria, reported a severe disagreement between high-ranking Iranian and Saudi officials. According to Reuters, there was a verbal clash between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a senior official from Saudi Arabia. About three weeks ago, following attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in protest against the execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran. The dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia reflects part of the broader disagreements that hinder the holding of the peace talks in Geneva regarding Syria. There has been ongoing disagreement over who will represent the Syrian opposition at the Geneva meeting. On one hand, Syrian government opponents demand a halt to Russian airstrikes on their controlled areas before any negotiations begin. Reuters reported that an official photographer captured a moment of Zarif and Al-Faisal shaking hands, but the photo has not been released. Furthermore, after the attendance of the two officials at the closed-door meeting with high-ranking officials from other countries and the United Nations, all signs of a potential rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia dissipated. One participant, who requested anonymity, stated, 'The discussions were such that it seemed like deaf people were talking.' Zarif denied holding any secret meetings with Turki Al-Faisal, the former head of Saudi intelligence and former ambassador to the U.S. In a press conference in Davos, when asked if he would meet with Saudi officials, he said, 'No secret meeting will take place.' However, Turki Al-Faisal told Reuters that he attended a meeting with Zarif and several other officials but refrained from disclosing what transpired due to the confidential nature of the session. The meeting also included Stefan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and foreign ministers from Italy and Austria, as well as officials from Turkey and several other countries. Participants said that Stefan de Mistura opened the session, stating that conditions for peace negotiations in Geneva are favorable as foreign powers seek a political solution to the war in Syria. However, some attendees expressed doubts about Russia's motives for its military intervention in the Syrian war through air support for Bashar al-Assad's regime. They indicated skepticism that Russia and Iran would agree to a solution that ultimately leads to Assad's removal from power. In the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister affirmed Iran's commitment to achieving a political solution to the Syrian crisis, noting that when invited last year to participate in ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the crisis, he presented a four-phase plan. Iran had been kept out of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis for years at the insistence of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Zarif criticized unnamed parties for exacerbating tensions and exploiting sectarian divisions between Sunnis and Shiites. He also accused Saudi Arabia of spending millions of dollars to pressure the U.S. Congress to provoke it against Iran's nuclear program. The nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers led to the lifting of UN sanctions against Tehran last week. Zarif stated that Riyadh has become panicked after the attack on its embassy in Tehran and that the Saudis 'need to return to their rationality.' Participants in the meeting reported that Turki Al-Faisal harshly criticized Iran's role in the Syrian war behind closed doors. They added that Al-Faisal expressed appreciation for Zarif's words but was surprised by his actions. According to this report, Al-Faisal accused Iran of sending tens of thousands of militants to Syria to support Assad and described Bashar al-Assad as a 'terrorist' who 'kills his own people, yet Iran keeps him in power.' One participant noted that Al-Faisal's remarks were more intense than expected and shocked attendees. Al-Faisal, without referencing the discussions held in the meeting, stated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard takes pride in having 120,000 militants in Arab countries. Iran has acknowledged the deaths of several Revolutionary Guard officers in Syria but insists that its military presence there is for advisory missions, not participation in battles. However, some officials close to the Damascus government claim that since the onset of Russian airstrikes in Syria, hundreds of Iranian fighters have joined the war in Syria, many of whom are present near the city of Aleppo. A diplomat in the Middle East estimated that the number of Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria is around 2,000, but thousands of Shia volunteers from countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan, who have been trained in Iran, have also joined them. According to attendees, Mohammad Javad Zarif did not respond to Turki Al-Faisal's criticisms during the meeting. One attendee remarked, 'De Mistura expressed regret over the existing disagreements, stating: This is the third year we have been discussing Syria, yet we are not reaching a conclusion.' He added, 'The comments from the European representatives present at the meeting were confined to the humanitarian crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis, and ways to prevent refugees from reaching Europe.'