Iran president heads to Saudi on 1st official visit

RIYADH, Mar 3 (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Saudi Arabia todayb on his first official trip to Riyadh and talks are expected to cover the crises in Lebanon and Iraq and Tehran's nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad, whose country could face tougher UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend its nuclear programme, will meet King Abdullah, whose country, a major US ally, is worried about Shi'ite Muslim Iran's growing influence in the region.

''In the meeting with King Abdullah, we will discuss those issues that should be carried out jointly in the Islamic world and also the region,'' the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying shortly before leaving Tehran.

Iranian state radio said talks would cover ''changes in the region and Islamic world, expanding mutual ties, the situation in the West Asia and Iran's nuclear case''.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and other senior officials were among the delegation, it added. An Iranian official said Ahmadinejad would stay until tomorrow.

''Iran is looking for a key role in the region and this is an opportunity to haggle over the nuclear issue by meddling in the thorny issues involving Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine,'' said Jeddah-based analyst and researcher Zuhair al-Harthi.

The United States and its regional allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, suspect Iran's nuclear energy programme aims to develop weapons, an accusation Tehran denies.

US-allied Arab governments also fear Iran is gaining influence in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Iraq, where Sunni bastion Saudi Arabia blames Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias for sectarian killings.

MEDIATION Saudi and Iranian officials have met several times in recent weeks to mediate between Lebanese opposition forces led by Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group backed by Iran and Syria, and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's US and Saudi-backed government.

But their talks, as well as Saudi contacts with Washington and Paris and Iranian talks with its closest regional ally Syria, appear to have made little headway.

A Lebanese political source says Iran is keen to break the ice between Saudis and Syrians, which is central to easing Lebanon's crisis, before an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia in late March.

Hezbollah demands veto power in Lebanon's government and early elections, but Siniora has refused. The standoff has paralysed parts of Beirut and occasionally led to violence.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria have all accepted Iraq's invitation to attend a regional conference in March on ways of easing tensions in Iraq. Riyadh has led a diplomatic drive in recent months to try to counterbalance Iranian influence in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

The effort has been led by veteran diplomat Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who Western diplomats in Riyadh say is very close to the US administration but sometimes an independent operator who does not always represent the king's thinking.

''Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have taken up the role of an alliance speaking in the name of the Arab world ... So Iran is making sure its views and positions on Arab issues are heard at summits,'' a Saudi-based Western diplomat said.

REUTERS SP VC1758