Iran and Saudi Arabia restore diplomatic relations

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to restore diplomatic ties and reopen embassies after seven years of tension. The diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China reduces the chances of armed conflict between rivals in the Middle East, both directly and through proxy conflicts in the region.

The deal, reached in Beijing this week at the National People’s Congress ceremony, represents a major diplomatic achievement for the Chinese as Persian Gulf states feel the United States is slowly withdrawing from the Middle East. It also comes as diplomats try to end a long-running war in Yemen, a conflict in which Iran and Saudi Arabia are firmly entrenched.

The two countries issued a joint statement on the deal with China, which brokered the pact when President Xi Jinping was given a third five-year term as leader of the country on Friday.

Xi, whose government in recent days has resumed a campaign to challenge the liberal US-led Western order with warnings of “conflict and confrontation”, was credited in a trilateral statement with facilitating the talks with a “noble initiative” and agreed to personally push the negotiations which lasted from Monday to Friday.

Videos released to Iranian state media showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat.

The joint statement calls for the restoration of links and the reopening of embassies to take place “within a maximum of two months”. Their foreign ministers are also due to meet.

In the video, Wang could be heard offering “sincere congratulations” for the “wisdom” of the two countries.

“Both sides showed sincerity,” he said. “China fully supports this agreement.”

The United Nations welcomed the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and thanked China for its participation. “Good neighborly relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are essential for the stability of the Gulf region,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarri said at the agency’s headquarters.

China, which hosted Iran’s radical President Ebrahim Raisi last month, is also a major buyer of Saudi oil. Xi traveled to Riyadh in December to meet with oil-rich Persian Gulf countries crucial to China’s energy supply.

According to Iranian state news agency IRNA, Shamkhani said the talks were “clear, transparent, thorough and constructive”.

“The elimination of misunderstandings and forward-looking visions in the relations between Tehran and Riyadh will certainly lead to improved stability and security in the region, as well as to increased cooperation between the nations of the Persian Gulf and the Islamic world to meet the current challenges,” Shamkhani said. said.