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Ahmadinejad First Official Visit in Saudi Arabia

The Iranian President, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, arrived at his first official visit at Saudi Arabia. During the two day visit the Iranian President met King Abdullah, in an effort to ease tension mounting due to the Iranian nuclear program. In addition, the two spoke about the situation in Lebanon and Iraq. Teheran`s official radio station said the talks were centered on changes in the Arab world, improving the relations between the two countries, the state of affaires in the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear program. The Iranian President had already visited Saudi Arabia, in the past, when attending the Arab League meeting held in Mecca, last year, but this visit is considered its first official visit.

A spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry said during the weekend that American officials contacted the Iranian government and asked to open communication lines, through which the two sides could discuss ways to pacify Iraq. The Iranian President`s visit took place while American diplomats and their counterparts in Russia, China, Germany, France and the UK are in the midst of agreeing on further sanctions against Iran, in addition to those adopted by the UN Security Council, during last December. A US official said the attempts will lead to serious sanctions.

The attempt to form an agreement on new sanctions begun after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA( published its report that indicated that Iran did not suspend its efforts to enrich uranium. The agency said that Iran is continuing to advance in several fields, including the building of centrifuges and high-grade uranium enrichment.