(Deletes extraneous word in paragraph 11) By Andrew Hammond RIYADH, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Iran has asked Saudi Arabia to help ease tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States in a letter delivered by Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator to the Saudi King, a Saudi official said on Monday. The letter, from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, comes at a time of rising tension over Iran's role in Iraq and Tehran's nuclear programme. It also follows growing criticism in Iran of Ahmadinejad's approach of railing against the West which more moderate politicians blame for stoking fears abroad. Saudi newspapers carried pictures of Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani, who has often visited key U.S. ally and leading Sunni Muslim nation Saudi Arabia over the past year, in what looked like friendly conversation with King Abdullah on Sunday evening. Moderate conservatives, like Ahmadinejad's rival Larijani, may be gaining a bigger say in Iranian policy-making after the president's supporters were trounced in December elections to municipal councils and a clerical body, Iranian analysts say. A Saudi official said Iran wanted Saudi leaders to relay a goodwill message to Washington. Iran would like Saudi Arabia to "help bring opinions together" between Iran and the United States, the official said, but gave no more details. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to arrive for talks in Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and a bastion of Sunni Islam, shares U.S. worries over Iran's nuclear programme and is also angry over Shi'ite Iran's influence in Iraq where sectarian violence is threatening a civil war. U.S. President George W. Bush this month vowed action to stop what he said was Iran's role in fomenting violence in Iraq. PRAGMATIST ELITES As tension mounts, Iran's more pragmatic politicians from the liberal and moderate conservative camps have urged a more cautious Iranian approach and, heartened by the December polls, have criticised Ahmadinejad for provoking confrontation. Ahmadinejad does not have the final say in the Islamic Republic, where ultimate authority lies with Khamenei, but analysts say the president has encouraged a tougher line with the West since he came to office in 2005. "In the future, I think the hands of the pragmatist elites, little by little, may become more powerful than before the (December) elections," said political analyst and university professor Hamidreza Jalaiepour, citing figures like Larijani, who was defeated by Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential race. Gulf Arab countries said last month they would go ahead with their own civilian nuclear energy programme, in what some observers have said was a Saudi message to Washington that a nuclear arms race will ensue if Tehran is not checked. Iran says its nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes but the United States says it is a covert arms programme. U.S.-allied Arab countries including Saudi Arabia acquiesced in Washington's plan to invade Iraq in 2003, offering some public words of opposition. But Gulf countries fear an Iran war could expose them to greater military and environmental risks. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said at the weekend he hopes to hear clarifications from Rice on Bush's new strategy, which Riyadh fears will lead to U.S. troops leaving Iraq prematurely, allowing Iran to gain more influence and leaving minority Sunnis at the mercy of Shi'ite militias. (With additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Tehran)
