https://arab.news/jmzyv
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday traveled to Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries to discuss the US-Israeli war against Iran. The gathering was intended as a diplomatic effort to discuss ways to de-escalate the ongoing war.
During the meeting, Iran launched ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh and the Eastern Province. The Kingdom’s air defenses intercepted the projectiles. Later, Iran launched a second wave of attacks, including a strike on a major gas facility in Qatar. It is hard to recall any moment in history when leaders convened for diplomacy and one party so effectively undermined it.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stated that the attacks were not coincidental but rather deliberately planned to coincide with the meeting. In his remarks, he argued that the strikes reflected Iran’s approach to diplomacy — one that undermines dialogue through escalation.
The Riyadh meeting was the first face-to-face ministerial gathering since the outbreak of the war. In a collective effort to give diplomacy another chance, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, along with representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon and Azerbaijan, gathered to reflect their common concern over the war’s trajectory.
