Iran and Saudi Arabia, heavyweights in the Middle East who severed ties in 2016, announced on Friday March 10 the restoration of their diplomatic relations following talks in China. Embassies and diplomatic representations must reopen within two months, wrote the Islamic Republic News Agency (or IRNA, for Islamic Republic News Agency, in English) in a joint statement published by the state media of the two countries.
According to IRNA, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, visited Beijing on Monday “for intensive negotiations with his Saudi counterpart in China aimed at finally resolving differences between Tehran and Riyadh”. In mid-February, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi paid a three-day state visit to China, the first by an Iranian president to the country in more than 20 years.
rival forces
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran severed ties more than seven years ago, following the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions by protesters in the Islamic Republic in retaliation for the execution by Riyadh of a famous Shia cleric, Nimr Al-Nimr. Other Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain subsequently cut diplomatic ties with Tehran to support Riyadh. In recent months, the Emirates and Kuwait have resumed diplomatic relations with Iran.
Tehran and Riyadh support rival forces in several regional conflicts, notably in Yemen. Iran has a dominating influence in Iraq and Lebanon and supports the Syrian regime militarily and politically. Beijing signed a vast twenty-five-year strategic agreement with Tehran in 2021 in areas as varied as energy, security, infrastructure and communications.
