Ebrahim Yazdi, Iran's first foreign minister after the 1979 Revolution, talked about his concerns regarding the continuous hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an exclusive phone interview with Al-Monitor. He said, "If this hostility continues, it will create chaos and insecurity for all the countries in the region and will increase the likelihood of a military confrontation and secession in the region. It will not be beneficial for any country in the region.”

Yazdi, who is the secretary-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran (Nehzat-e Azadi-e Iran), has been repeatedly arrested for criticizing the Iranian government. He was detained after the 2009 contested elections and again in 2010 for his political activities. In May 2011, he wrote a letter to Tunisian leader Rached Ghannouchi, urging him to learn from Iran’s mistakes and respect diversity and plurality.

Yazdi supports the current foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and stresses that the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be more active and that Iran should try to influence its neighbors via diplomacy instead of using nondiplomatic organizations.

The text of the interview follows: