Iran's Ahmadinejad to visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday

Official sources both in Tehran and Riyadh said Thursday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss the pressing regional issues with King Abdullah.

An informed Iranian official who declined to be named told media that President Ahmadinejad will travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday and leave Riyadh on Sunday after talks on regional affairs.

He, however, did not say if Ahmadinejad would be travelling directly from Sudan, where he is on a state visit.

In Riyadh, a Saudi official confirmed that Ahmadinejad would arrive on Saturday and meet with King Abdullah on Sunday.

Ahmadinejad's visit to Riyadh comes at a time of political crisis in Lebanon and continued sectarian bloodshed in Iraq, two multi-confessional countries where Tehran and Riyadh have an important influence.

It also precedes a conference of Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad on March 10, which Iran and Syria as well as the United States and Britain will also attend, and an Arab summit in Riyadh at the end of the month.

Political observers held that Ahmadinejad's Riyadh tour also comes at a very sensitive time when Washington is pushing for more sanctions on Tehran over its failure to comply with demands to halt its controversial uranium enrichment program.

Although the United States has publicly denied plans to strike Iran, it has built up militarily in the Gulf and refused to rule out any option.

"The region is facing several potentially explosive crises points and these are all issues of common concern for Riyadh and Iran," AP quoted a Saudi analyst Khaled al-Dakhil as saying.

Source: Xinhua