Kuwait conveyed messages from Iran to Riyadh, Manama

CAIRO – Kuwait’s deputy foreign minister Khaled al-Jarallah said on Tuesday that Kuwait conveyed messages from Iran to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain regarding the situation in the Gulf region, and "until now no answers have emerged".

The Iranian Foreign Ministry had said last month that Iran is prepared to hold talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia, "with or without the help of a mediator".

Saudi Arabia, which is locked in several proxy wars in the region with Iran, has blamed Tehran for attacks on Saudi oil plants on Sept. 14, a charge Iran denies. The kingdom has said it prefers a political solution to a military one. 

Last week, the United States and six Gulf countries agreed to jointly impose sanctions on 25 corporations, banks and individuals linked to Iran's support for militant networks including Hezbollah.

The blacklisted targets were announced by the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) nations - which also include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the announcement as part of a trip to visit several of these Middle East allies to bolster their support for increasing pressure on Iran.

Saudi Minister of State Adel al-Jubeir said that a policy of appeasement would not work with Iran and that the only way to get Tehran to the negotiating table was to apply maximum pressure.

"We think that appeasement doesn't work. Actions count, not words. Members of the Iranian government talk, but have no power. Those who have, like the Revolutionary Guards, don't want to negotiate," Jubeir told Liberation newspaper in an interview.

Last September, Washington and Riyadh blamed the attack on Saudi oil facilities, which was claimed by Huthi rebels in Yemen, on Iran.