While visiting Tehran to discuss trade between Iran and Germany, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also met with Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to encourage his country to work to reduce tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia, which is currently one of the most intractable crises plaguing the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are at the political centers of Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively, are currently in indirect military conflicts in some of the deadliest wars in the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen.

In an interview with Iranian media before his trip, Steinmeier said he planned to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia to find a political solution to Syria’s civil war. Rafsanjani had been previously tasked with easing tensions with Saudi Arabia after the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and he has been a vocal advocate of easing tensions now. The transcript provided by Rafsanjani’s website of the Oct. 18 meeting with Steinmeier, however, indicates that the hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia that killed 474 Iranians has further complicated a possible de-escalation between the two countries.

Steinmeier said, “Political differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia have resulted in strengthening terrorists in the region, and if these two Islamic countries cooperate, other Islamic countries will also put aside their differences.” Rafsanjani expressed hope that both countries can use their experiences in fighting terrorism to resolve differences but also said that to fight terrorism, there must be “an all-encompassing cooperation” to first impede the progress of terrorists and then an effort to uproot them, though he did not specify how.

Rafsanjani also added that after the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the war, Rafsanjani worked to ease tensions with Saudi Arabia. During Steinmeier's Tehran University visit, some students held signs protesting Germany's support of Saddam in that war.