TEHRAN— Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani indirectly criticized Saudi Arabia for adopting unconstructive policies that could lead to a halt in Tehran-Riyadh talks.

So far, Iran and Saudi Arabia have had five rounds of talks hosted by Iraq. The most recent development was the Saudis expressing satisfaction with the way the negotiations are held, asking for an upgrade from security level to diplomatic.

However, after Riyadh expressed its support for the Albanian government in severing ties with Iran over an alleged cyberattack, political pundits began to question the continuity of the Tehran-Riyadh talks.

On top of that, the detention of an Iranian Hajj pilgrim by the Saudis have tightened the knot.

“We believe that the countries of the region need to take measures to strengthen peace, stability and tranquility in the region. Naturally, stability in the region is the basis for economic development, which is a matter that all the countries in the region need and pay attention to,” Kanaani said in this regard.

He then said what can help create stability in the region is paying attention to the national and general interests of the region. 

“We have always emphasized that we are ready to interact and discuss with the neighboring and friendly countries in the region to create better conditions in order to ensure the interests of the countries in the region. Such an approach can serve the interests of all countries,” he advised, adding that taking unconstructive and unprincipled positions is not helpful in the path of negotiations between the two regional powerhouses. 

“We still highlight the path of interaction, and we expect all countries in the region to follow the path of interaction. In the case of Saudi Arabia, we emphasized many times that we entered into dialogue based on Iran's point of view on the necessity of resolving regional disputes and using collective capacities to secure common interests. These dialogues continued in five rounds, agreements were reached and with the implementation of the agreements the results obtained in the previous rounds of talks will provide the basis for the next meetings at other levels,” he stated.

Kanaani then went on to say that “the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond proportionately to any constructive action and step.”