Samir es-Sabhan, Saudi Arabia’s minister responsible for relationships with the Gulf countries, and Brett McGurk, an American diplomat, visited Raqqa

Following the failure of jihadists, Saudi Arabia, the greatest sponsor of the jihadist groups in Syria, has been trying to promote relations with Rojava, currently governed by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing People’s Protection Units (YPG), which have made statements against Iran for a while now.

Lastly, Saudi Arabia’s minister Samir es-Sabhan responsible for the relations of Saudi-Gulf countries has gone to YPG-controlled Raqqa along with Brett McGurk, the U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy for anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition.

It is said that the Saudi minister met the members of the PYD-led 'Raqqa Civil Council' to discuss the reconstruction of almost destroyed Raqqa due to the U.S. bombardments.

ANTI-IRAN AXIS

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden criticised Saudi Arabia, sponsoring the jihadist groups in Syria, as well as Turkey and Qatar for supporting the IS.

Saudi Arabia has been on the same page with Israel as to the claim that 'Iran has expansionist purposes in the region'. Accordingly, Riyadh occasionally expresses its argument that "a Kurdish state must be founded in the region so as to prevent the Shiite expansionism".

Having met Israeli diplomat Dore Gold in 2015, Saudi Arabia's King Salman's counsellor Anwar Majid Ishqi argued that an independent Kurdish state should be established in order to prevent Iran's expansionism.

The first close contact of Saudi Arabia with YPG came when Riyadh's man Ahmad Jarba's armed group participated the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Synchronically, anti-Iran statements came from the authorities of YPG and PYD. Initially, İlham Amed from PYD interviewed with Saudi Al Riyadh newspaper in June, setting forth that they were ready for cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Talking to Saudi Okaz newspaper, the head of the Kurdish security police (known as Asayish) in northeast Syria, Ciwan İbrahim said, "Iran's project is more dangerous than the IS," adding that the Kurds in Iran were also preparing for a revolution.

"We have no relation with Iran. Its approach to the Kurdish question is no different than that of the Syrian regime," former PYD co-chair Salih Muslim told Al Riyadh. Indicating to Jarba's tribe, Muslim added, "the tribes having a kinship with Saudi Arabia are involved in their administration, which is why they are proud."

Saudi minister Sabhan was the ambassador to Iraq prior to his current position assigned by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in 2016. Assigned in 2015 as Saudi Arabia’s first ambassador to Iraq after a quarter century, Sabhan became the target of harsh response when he criticised the Iraqi administration for establishing an armed group with sectarian motives.

Following his sectarian views on Twitter, Baghdad requested Saudi Arabia to assign another envoy to Iraq in the place of Sabhan.