King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, received here Sunday a message from President Ahmadinejad on relations between the two countries and the situation in the Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East. The message was delivered by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. “I met him afterwards and discussed with him all these questions in a spirit of honesty, clarity and transparence,” said Prince Saud, who welcomed Mottaki at the airport. “Although we appreciate Iranian support for Arab causes, we believe that such support should be channeled through the legitimate Arab doorways and be consistent with its goals and positions, that such support for Arab causes be expressive and not a replacement for it,” Prince Saud said at his weekly press conference. “At the same time, we believe that unity of Arab and Palestinian ranks will help achieve these objectives. We are sure that Iran shares with us these objectives. Both of us should exert the necessary effort at this stage to ensure that relations are stable on the basis of fruitful cooperation and mutual respect,” the Saudi Press Agency cited Prince Saud as saying. Answering a question on Turkish-Iranian rapprochement, Prince Saud said: “Turkey and Iran are two Islamic countries. We do not consider this rapprochement as a threat to the security of the region. On the contrary, the more agreements reached among Islamic countries, the more will the region benefit.” He described the Turkish role in this regard as positive. __
