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Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to restore diplomatic ties and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including an attack that damaged the heart of the kingdom’s oil production caused by Tehran.
The deal, reached in Beijing this week amid ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states view the United States as slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end the years-long war in Yemen, the conflict in Iran and Saudi Arabia is intense.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have held talks in recent years, but it is unclear whether Yemen is the impetus for this new detente.
The two countries issued a joint communique on the deal with China, which brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report the agreement but Iranian state media posted footage in which Wang Yi, Beijing’s most senior diplomat, offered “heartfelt congratulations” to the two countries for their “prudence”.
In the footage, Yi was joined by Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, and Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban.
“Removing misunderstandings and a future-oriented view of relations between Tehran and Riyadh will certainly lead to increasing regional stability and security, as well as increasing cooperation between the Persian Gulf countries and the Islamic world to manage the current challenges,” said Shamkhani. .
The Saudis keep telling the US: The White House
The joint statement called for reestablishing ties and reopening embassies to happen “within a maximum period of two months.”
The Saudi government confirmed the development in its own statement.
The White House is aware of the talks.
“The Saudis have been briefed on the ongoing talks, as they’ve been informed of our involvement, but we’re not directly involved,” White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
China, which recently hosted Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, is also the top buyer of Saudi oil. President Xi Jinping, just awarded a third five-year term as president on Friday, visited Riyadh in December to attend meetings with oil-rich Arab Gulf states that are vital to China’s energy supplies.
Tensions are high between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The kingdom severed ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters attacked a Saudi diplomatic post there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric a few days earlier, sparking demonstrations.
The executions took place when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then deputy, came to power. King Salman’s son Prince Mohammed at one point compared Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler, and also threatened to invade Iran.
In those years, tensions have risen dramatically in the Middle East since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Iran has been blamed for several attacks during that time, including one aimed at the heart of Saudi Arabia. The Arab oil industry in 2019, cut in half the kingdom’s crude oil production.
Although Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen initially claimed responsibility for the attack, Western countries and experts blamed the attack on Tehran. Iran has long denied launching the attack. He also denied carrying out other attacks linked to the Islamic Republic.
Kristian Ulrichsen, a researcher at Rice University’s Baker Institute who has long studied the region, said Saudi Arabia reached a deal with Iran after the United Arab Emirates reached a similar understanding with Tehran.
“This reduction of tension and de-escalation has been going on for three years and this was triggered by the Saudi recognition of their opinion that without the unconditional support of the US, they cannot use force against Iran and other regions,” he said.
Prince Mohammed, currently focused on large construction projects in his own country, may be interested in withdrawing from the Yemeni war, Ulrichsen added.
Tens of thousands were killed in Yemen
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition armed with US and Canadian weapons, and American intelligence, entered the war on the side of the exiled Yemeni government in March 2015. Years of endless war have created a humanitarian disaster and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink. famine.
A six-month ceasefire in Yemen’s war, the longest-running conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. That led to fears that the war could escalate again. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the war, including more than 14,500 civilians.
Iran has denied providing weapons to the Houthis, although the weapons they seized mirror those seen on the battlefield in the hands of the rebels. A UN arms embargo prohibits countries from sending arms to the Houthis.
In recent months, negotiations have been underway, including in Oman, a long-time interlocutor between Iran and the US.
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