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Is Saudi Arabia really seeking regime change in Iran?

While Iran has strongly reacted to former Saudi spy chief Turki bin Faisal Al Saud’s appearance at the MEK’s annual conference, Iranian observers merely see the Saudi move as bringing a longstanding hidden agenda out in the open.

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 02:  Founder and trustee of the King Faisal Foundation as well as the Chairman of the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal speaks on stage during the 2015 Concordia Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on October 2, 2015 in New York City.  (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
Prince Turki al-Faisal speaks on stage during the 2015 Concordia Summit at the Grand Hyatt New York, Oct. 2, 2015, in New York City. — Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

TEHRAN, Iran — Just as the Iranian judiciary was preparing to put those who stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran earlier this year on trial, former Saudi intelligence chief and diplomat Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud appeared to step up the campaign against Iran by appearing at the July 9 annual conference of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) in Paris.

Iran has listed the MEK as a terrorist organization since the 1980s, blaming it for the deaths of over 12,000 Iranians, including civilians, politicians — and in recent years — nuclear scientists. The MEK notably fought on the side of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), and also later helped Saddam suppress an uprising by Iraqi Shiites and Kurds.

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