Briefing on Middle East geopolitics: Iran and Saudi Arabia at loggerheads

Middle East and North Africa Director at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Jane Marriott will brief Asia House corporate members on the ongoing geopolitical situation in the region at a private briefing.

On the agenda will be the implications of the recent breakdown of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, escalating tensions between the two nations and the UK’s diplomatic engagement with the Arabian Peninsula.

Following the recent mass execution by Saudi Arabia of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others, and the subsequent setting ablaze of the Saudi embassy in Tehran which led to Riyadh’s expulsion of Iranian diplomats, Iran and Saudi Arabia’s relations have sunk to a new low, protests have erupted across the region and the schism between Islam’s Shia and Sunnis has deepened.

How much of a huge setback will this be to end the conflict in Yemen and Syria? Concerns are on the rise that the region as a whole might be on the brink to an even wider conflict.

This does not bode well for the UN intra-Syrian talks scheduled to start 25 January in Geneva to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Prior to taking up her present role Marriott held numerous posts across the Middle East. From 2003 to 2004 she served as Political Advisor to the Coalition Forces in Southern Iraq; as Political-Military and Economic Counsellor in Baghdad 2005 – 2006; Senior Political Advisor to US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, 2009; and Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Head of Mission in Tehran from July 2010 to November 2011. From January 2013 to February 2015 she served as HM Ambassador to Yemen.

This event is open to Asia House corporate members only.

For further information, please contact: Jeremy Wimble, Business & Policy Team at jeremy.wimble@asiahouse.co.uk or call 0207 307 5454.