Your Evening Briefing: Saudi Arabia Tries Its Hand at Reining in Iran

Saudi Arabia is dangling economic investment in the sanctions-stricken economy of Iran, its longtime regional rival. There is however one string attached : Tehran must not encourage regional escalation of the Israel-Hamas war. Ever since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, Riyadh has proposed that the Islamic Republic restrain its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. It’s unclear how seriously Iran has taken these overtures, but the conciliatory tone signals a step forward for two countries which have long vied for geopolitical power in the Middle East. Alongside Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s outreach, Saudi Arabia has also been working with Arab allies and the US to stop Iran from “weaponizing” the conflict.

The two-pronged approach has given a rare view into Saudi Arabia’s strategy following this year’s restoration of diplomatic ties . The specter of a regional conflict prompted Riyadh to go out of its way to enlist Iran as a co-sponsor of the communique issued at the end of the recent Islamic-Arab summit. The document condemned Israel, which Gaza health officials say has killed more than 15,000 Palestinians during six weeks of war. The United Nations has called Israel’s destruction of Gaza, its response to the Hamas attack in which it killed 1,200 Israelis, a “ humanitarian catastrophe .” A six-day truce negotiated by Qatar is set to expire tonight , but negotiators are hoping to extend it.