Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a new stage in their reconciliation on Saturday during the visit of the head of Saudi diplomacy to Tehran after seven years of rivalry in the Middle East.
Nearly 100 days after the surprise announcement of the resumption of their diplomatic ties, the two Middle Eastern heavyweights expressed their wish that this “return to normal relations will have a positive effect for the region, the Islamic world and the whole world”, according to Prince Faisal ben Farhane.
He is the first Saudi foreign minister to be received in Tehran for 17 years.
After a meeting with his counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdolahian, he later met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and declared that he would give him an invitation “to visit the kingdom soon”.
No date has been announced for this trip, which is supposed to finalize the reconciliation process, which was formalized on March 10 in Beijing as part of an agreement concluded through China, a new major player on the scene. Middle East.
With Mr. Raisi, the two men discussed “ways to strengthen bilateral relations in various fields”, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on its Twitter page.
For his part, the Iranian president said that for his country “there is no obstacle to the development of relations with Islamic countries”, according to a statement from his office.
He stressed that “regional problems and troubles can be settled through cooperation and dialogue without foreign interference.”
The Gulf monarchy severed ties with the Islamic Republic in 2016 after Iranian demonstrators attacked Saudi diplomatic missions protesting Riyadh’s execution of an influential Shia cleric.
Since then, the two rival powers, which have had an enmity since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, have clashed on major regional issues. They have thus supported rival camps in Syria, Lebanon or Yemen.
The Saudi minister insisted that bilateral relations were now “based on full respect for independence, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs”.
Cooperation between Riyadh and Tehran is important for “regional security, in particular that of maritime navigation”, he said, as the two countries border the Gulf, through which some of the world’s crude passes.
“Regional security will be ensured only by regional actors,” insisted Mr. Amir-Abdolahian, alluding to Tehran’s wish to end the American military presence in the region.
Washington announced in May the reinforcement of this presence because of the multiplication of incidents in the waters of the Gulf, in particular the seizure of oil tankers by Iranian forces.
Iran reopened its embassy in Riyadh on June 6 and appointed diplomat Alireza Enayati, until then deputy foreign minister, as ambassador.
The reopening of the Saudi embassy in Tehran, on the other hand, has been delayed due to the poor condition of the building, which was damaged by demonstrators in 2016. It will be operational again “soon”, indicated during a conference of urges Prince Faisal ben Farhane without advancing a date.
Pending the completion of the work, the Saudi diplomats will work in secure premises in a luxury hotel in Tehran, according to media reports.
The Iran-Saudi thaw was followed by a series of changes in the diplomatic scene in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has reconnected with Syria, an ally of Tehran, which has been reintegrated into the Arab League.
Ryad has intensified its peace efforts in Yemen, where it leads a military coalition supporting the Yemeni government against the Houthi rebels, close to Iran.
At the same time, Iran initiated a process of normalization with the other Arab countries with which it was at odds. He should thus soon reconnect with Bahrain and Egypt.
06/18/2023 08:06:58 – Tehran (AFP) – © 2023 AFP