Iran and Saudi Arabia want to restore diplomatic relations after years of conflict. As a first step, the foreign ministers of the rival countries want to meet, as the state news agencies of both countries, IRNA and SPA, report on Friday. Accordingly, high-ranking government officials in China signed a corresponding agreement. Riyadh and Tehran want to settle differences in dialogue, according to a statement by the Saudi state agency SPA.
Both countries also agreed to reopen the embassies within two months. Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia-majority Iran have not maintained diplomatic relations in recent years. Both countries are struggling for political and military influence in the region. At a meeting of foreign ministers, the establishment of trade relations and cooperation on security issues will also be discussed.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran on Friday thanked China, as well as Iraq and Oman for hosting earlier talks in 2021 and 2022.
The USA is reacting cautiously to the rapprochement
A White House spokesman said the US was aware of reports of the deal and welcomed any efforts that would help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
The rapprochement between the two countries that has now been agreed means a significant change for the USA. For decades they were the protecting power for Saudi Arabia. However, thanks to its own oil and gas production, the USA has become less dependent on raw material supplies from the Middle East, while China is becoming an increasingly important customer there. Political relations between Western countries and Saudi Arabia had also deteriorated since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was accused of having the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was critical of the regime, murdered.
Ice age between USA, EU and Iran
There was a rapprochement again last year, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz also traveled to Riyadh. Relations between the USA and the EU countries with Iran, on the other hand, had recently deteriorated because highly enriched uranium had been found in Iran. Western countries accuse Iran of developing a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies.
According to observers, however, a normalization of relations between the two countries could have a positive impact on negotiations to revive the Vienna nuclear agreement. Talks have been on hold for almost a year. Riyadh cut official ties with Tehran in January 2016 in response to an attack by Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Iran. The protests were triggered by the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.
In recent years, the two states have also fought out their rivalry in military conflicts in the region, for example in Yemen. Over the past year, both sides have cautiously approached each other at the diplomatic level.