Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal chose the First Arab Cooperation and Economic Forum with Central Asia and Azerbaijan, strategically important countries to Iran, as the venue to invite the Iranian foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia and to declare Riyadh’s willingness to negotiate with Iran to resolve their regional differences.

The continuation of the conflict in Syria, the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq and the likely victory of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the recent Iraqi elections could all push the Sunni-Shiite struggle past the point of no return and threaten everyone’s security and stability, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. Thus, the rational choice for all parties is to control the conflict and stop the slide toward further escalation.

This de-escalatory framework explains why Faisal invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit the kingdom and why Faisal declared that Riyadh is willing to hold talks with Tehran on the region’s heated issues. It is an invitation to control the conflict, not resolve it, because there are no signs of a Saudi-Iranian agreement on Syria, Iraq, Bahrain or Yemen. The two still have significant disagreements, especially on Syria.

A former Saudi official told Al-Monitor that a behind-the-scenes, low-level direct dialogue has started between Saudi Arabia and Iran regarding Syria. The source added that progress at this level could pave the way for a public dialogue between them on Syria. But that prospect remains a long shot as the differences between the two Islamic powers over Syria run deep. Saudi Arabia is not budging on its demand for President Bashar al-Assad’s departure, while Iran considers Assad remaining in power a guarantee of its influence.