Why the Riyadh-Tehran channel didn't break this week — and who kept it alive

🟣 GENEVA — The diplomats who matter aren't in the press conferences.

📌 LOOK CLOSER: Three back-channel tracks between Riyadh and Tehran survived this week's escalation, despite the public collapse of the Vienna format. The first runs through Omani intermediaries — the same circuit that brokered the 2023 normalization. The second passes through Swiss commercial attachés who have quietly facilitated prisoner exchanges since 2019. The third, more recent, involves UAE business figures with deep Iranian commercial ties. None of these tracks will produce a public agreement. All three are calibrating what either side can survive. When the public diplomacy returns, the terms will already be drawn here.