Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Saudi Arabia following diplomatic efforts

(AP) Iran's president heads to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for discussions with King Abdullah, an indication that weeks of talks between their envoys on simmering conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon have made some headway.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Riyadh comes as the U.S. is pushing for harsher U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, and it may reflect that he is looking for a way out of a tight corner.

Ahmadinejad is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a one-day visit, a Saudi Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Iran's ambassador to Riyadh, Mohammad Hosseini, confirmed that Ahmadinejad's trip was "imminent," but declined to elaborate, Iran's official IRNA news agency said.

The visit will culminate weeks of diplomatic activities spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, including talks between Iranian and Saudi diplomats, a meeting between Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the accord reached in the Saudi city of Mecca to form a unity Palestinian government.

It also precedes a conference on Iraq in Baghdad on March 10, which will include its neighbors, Iran and Syria, as well as the U.S. and Britain. At the end of the month, an Arab summit is planned in the Saudi capital.

Washington is pushing for tougher U.N. sanctions on Tehran over its failure to comply with demands to halt its uranium enrichment program that the West fears could be used to build a nuclear weapon. Although the U.S. has said it has no plans to strike Iran militarily, it has also refused to rule out any option.

There are other crises both countries are worried about. Violence in Iraq is escalating, Shiite-Sunni tensions are simmering across the Mideast and Lebanon remains tense as the opposition tries to bring down the Western-backed government.

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia is worried Shiite-Sunni fighting in Iraq _ with which the kingdom shares a long border _ and sectarian tensions in Lebanon could veer out of control and send shockwaves throughout the Middle East.

"The region is facing several potentially explosive crises points and these are all issues of common concern for Riyadh and Iran," said Saudi analyst, Khaled al-Dakhil.

"Saudi Arabia has become the focus of the diplomatic activity in the region, and therefore, Iran should try to keep an open channel with Saudi Arabia and try to use it at the regional and international level," he added.

But keeping diplomatic channels open has not been Ahmadinejad's strength. Speaking Thursday in Sudan, Ahmadinejad blamed the U.S. and Israel for the world's problems.

"There is no place in the world that suffers from divisions and wars unless America or the Zionists' fingerprints are seen there," the Iranian president said. "Our strength and the cornerstone of the victory is in our (Muslims') unity ... we have to pay attention to the devils who want to cause divisions among us."

Another Saudi official said Ahmadinejad's trip may be the result of a possible realization that he needs to maintain good relations in the region to ensure stability. It may even help ward off sectarian tensions that could ultimately work against the groups which Iran supports.

Sunnis increasingly fear Shiite-majority Iran's growing influence in the region. Iran is a strong backer of Hezbollah, which is striving to bring down the U.S.- and Saudi-backed government in Lebanon. Tehran also has close ties to Shiite political parties in Iraq, and Washington accuses it of backing Shiite militias there.

"The fact that the (Saudi) king would meet with him will raise Ahmadinejad's status domestically and internationally as a ... responsible statesman," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "Knowing the style of Saudi diplomacy, they won't give him this carrot without having received certain assurances that he will pursue a reasonable path."

Saudi officials have not divulged any details about their negotiations with the Iranians. But some Lebanese politicians have said Iran and Saudi Arabia are still trying to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss said Wednesday after returning from Tehran that Iran was ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia, and probably Syria, to help forge a national dialogue in Lebanon.

Legislator Saad Hariri, head of Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, said he hoped the Saudi-Iran summit would work toward this.

"I think political dialogue is important, and I think that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays a pivotal role in the region," Hariri said.