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Pundit: Saudi Arabia's regime change policy failed

Wednesday, 18 January 2017 7:30 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 19 January 2017 6:03 AM ]

Saudi Royals framed in a file AFP image

Iran has voiced readiness to work with Saudi Arabia to give an end to the regional conflicts including the war in Yemen. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said ties between Tehran and Riyadh can go back to normal if Riyadh sees the realities on the ground.

A Washington-based political analyst has said he hopes Saudis are “smart enough to take the olive branch” from Iran.

“Things are going against them (the Saudis) in Syria with Iran, Russia and Turkey cooperating in the talks in Astana about a possible peace settlement,” which is a defeat for the Saudis’ regime change policy in Syria, said James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst from Washington.

Saudi Arabia regime change policy went nowhere because of the recent coordination among regional nations, he added.

Jatras made the comments in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the regional countries supporting militant groups in Syria as part of attempt to topple the Arab country’s democratically elected government.

Riyadh has also launched a military campaign against Yemen, the poorest Arab nation in the world, to restore its ally former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to power.

“What they have got to show for the aggression against Yemen and the horrible destruction? How about innocent lives there? Is that making Saudi Arabia secure? I don’t think so,” James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst from Washington told Press TV on Wednesday.

Riyadh's military aggression began with an attempt to reinstate the regime of Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia.

The campaign also sought to undermine Houthis and secure the Saudi border with its impoverished southern neighbor. The regime in Riyadh, however, has failed to reach its goals despite going to great expense.

Over 11,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed and millions more displaced as a result of the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen.

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