Senior Saudi Military Official Visits Tehran; Medicalian and Bin Salman Discuss

The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, in a rare visit to Tehran, met with his Iranian counterpart. Simultaneously, the President of Iran spoke on the phone with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Fayyad al-Ruwaili, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, arrived in Tehran on Sunday, November 20, and met with Ali Bagheri, his Iranian counterpart. According to Tasnim News Agency, among the topics discussed between the two military officials was the issue of 'strengthening defense and military relations and cooperation.' Additionally, according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense, the two sides discussed 'developing bilateral relations in military and defense in a way that contributes to enhancing security and stability in the region.' Reuters noted that this senior Saudi official's visit to Tehran occurred just days after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. During his previous presidency, Trump adopted a 'maximum pressure' policy against Iran and established normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab countries in the region under an agreement known as the 'Abraham Accords.' Trump initiated normalization between Arab countries and Israel, Iran's regional adversary, during his first term, but he promised during his current campaign to establish peace in the Middle East. On Sunday, Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, also spoke by phone with Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. According to IRNA, the two discussed 'the latest status of relations between the two countries.' The report also stated that Masoud Pezeshkian informed Mohammed bin Salman that due to 'the congestion of executive matters,' he could not accept the Saudi King's invitation to attend a special summit of Islamic leaders, and for this reason, his First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref, would attend the summit. The second emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League regarding the Gaza war is scheduled to be held today, Tuesday, November 21, in Riyadh. 'Riyadh and Washington's efforts' aim for a quick security agreement. Diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia had been severed for over seven years, and finally, in March 2023, Ali Shamkhani and Musaad al-Aiban, the then national security advisors of the two countries, signed a memorandum of understanding to restore relations in Beijing. Since then, the Saudi Foreign Minister visited Tehran once in June 2023, President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to Riyadh in November of the same year to attend an Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit, and this June, the Saudi King's special assistant visited Tehran to attend a memorial ceremony for Ebrahim Raisi.