The Wall Street Journal:

Benoit Faucon in Paris, Summer Said in Dubai and Warren P. Strobel in Washington

Saudi Arabia is quietly trying to mend fences with Iran and other regional foes as officials in the kingdom have grown more worried about the risks conflict poses to its oil-dependent economy.

Riyadh’s newfound interest in better relations with regional rivals comes as Saudi officials question how much backing it has from the U.S. and other allies. Saudi calculations changed after a cruise-missile and drone strike—blamed on Tehran—temporarily disabled a large portion of the country’s crude production earlier this year. Washington didn’t hit back at Iran after the attack, but it sent troops to strengthen Saudi defenses.

“The Sept. 14 attack was a game-changer,” one Saudi official said.

Representatives of Saudi Arabia and Iran have directly exchanged messages in recent months and also communicated through intermediaries in Oman, Kuwait and Pakistan, according to Saudi, European and U.S. officials. The main focus of the communications, these officials say, has been easing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

According to Iran’s ambassador to Paris, Bahram Ghasemi, and other officials, Tehran has floated a peace plan to the Saudis that includes a mutual pledge of nonaggression and cooperation, aimed at securing oil exports following a spate of tanker attacks.

Mine explosions struck Saudi, Emirati and Japanese oil tankers this summer near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Those attacks, which the U.S. blamed on Iran, were followed by explosions in October on an Iranian tanker that Tehran blamed on an unnamed foreign government. The incidents have driven up the cost of shipping and forced oil buyers to delay loadings.

Riyadh has also engaged in secret talks with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels it has been fighting in Yemen for years, according to Arab and U.S. officials. The conflict there has created what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The two sides now have a hotline in an effort to minimize potential clashes, said a Western official.

Houthi forces initiated the push for talks in September with a proposal for a unilateral cease-fire; the Saudis responded with a partial cease-fire of their own.

“Realpolitik has set in,” one senior U.S. official said, with the Saudis recognizing that “they’ve just got to pare down on the challenges they have on multiple fronts.”

The Saudi Embassy in Washington and the Royal Court in Riyadh didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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