Hashemi Effective, Even If an Armchair Politician

IRD: A few weeks ago, there was a gathering in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran to protest against the disrespect to the Shi’a imams’ graves and Iranian pilgrims visiting them at the Baqi’ Cemetery, and to ask the Saudis to reconsider in their behavior. This gathering was a continuation of the opposition expressed by the Islamic Republic of Iran to Saudi involvement in the Bahrain’s affairs and the suppression of Shiites, as Iran-Saudi Arabia relations have not been of any significance in the past months.

Attempts were made to avoid misunderstandings between Riyadh and Tehran, but the pressure of some Iranian parties and the adoption of an anti-Iranian approach by some radical Saudi groups did not allow the relations to ameliorate. Today, the memories of the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami are revived to highlight the current (un) intended political distance between the two countries: during Ahmadinejad’s presidency, some messages from some of the Saudi officials were sent to the two former presidents known as critics of the government to activate track two diplomacy and resolve the conflicts to the extent possible, while the officials of the countries condemn each other for their involvement in Arab countries’ affairs. Moreover, the political and economic approach adopted by the current Iranian government (from 2009 onwards) was thoroughly against that of the two former presidents, as it presented another Iran in the domestic and international arena.