Summit on Gaza Strip
Iran’s President travels to Saudi Arabia
November 11, 2023, 11:56 a.m
There has been a diplomatic ice age between Saudi Arabia and Iran for seven years. Now the rival heads of government are meeting again for the first time in Riyadh. The occasion: a summit of the Muslim-dominated states on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi traveled to the kingdom for the first time since the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The occasion is an extraordinary summit meeting of Arab and other Islamic states about the Gaza war in Riyadh. Originally a meeting of the 22 member states of the Arab League was planned, but the meeting was expanded into a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an association of 57 Muslim states to which the Arab League countries belong.
Raisi has now arrived in Riyadh, according to his fellow travelers. The Iranian news channel “Iran Nuances” published a video of the arrival at the airport on the online platform X.
Before his departure, Raisi said that the bombing of Gaza must immediately stop and the route for humanitarian aid to the civilian population must be opened. “What is currently happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity and a genocide,” he said at the airport in Tehran, according to the Irna news agency. “We expect a clear practical decision from the Islamic world at the OIC summit and no verbal promises.”
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran have not had diplomatic relations in the past seven years. During the diplomatic ice age, the two states fought out their rivalry in various conflicts in the region – for example in Syria and Yemen.
Iran has repeatedly reiterated its full support for the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, but has so far vehemently denied any direct involvement in the conflict. However, support for Hamas in Iran is limited. Many Iranians are convinced that Raisi and his government should take more care of their own people given the catastrophic economic situation in the country.