One of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's many campaign promises was that he would not put the country's economic and political fate at the mercy of the nuclear negotiations. With the nuclear talks unofficially at a stalemate, Iran appears to be focused on regional diplomacy. 

One of the most pressing issues is currently tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, who have been locked in indirect conflict for a decade, supporting proxies and groups hostile to one another’s interests. A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that soon the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers will meet, although neither side has confirmed a meeting at this level.

Iranian and Saudi officials have met for five rounds of talks in Baghdad since April 2021. The latest round held last month included the senior representatives of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, Khalid bin Ali al-Humaidan.

Ebtekar wrote that one can be “hopeful” of the talks between Tehran and Riyadh and that regional Arab media even reported that there is a 10-point document regarding shared interests and objectives. However, the article continued that the two sides still are still very divided on a number of important issues and that future negotiations “will be full of challenges.”