Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties with China’s help
Asia-Pacific, Middle East, News March 11, 2023 4 Comments on Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties with China’s helpA landmark political progress was seen in the Middle East on March 10, 2023, after two regional rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia, reached a deal to restore their ties as a result of a security agreement brokered by China.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi hosted a meeting between the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Saudi Arabia’s National Security Advisor Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban in Beijing. Successful trilateral talks resulted in Riyadh and Tehran agreeing to reestablish their diplomatic relations by reopening their embassies within two months.
“This is a victory for dialogue, a victory for peace, offering major good news at a time of much turbulence in the world,” the Chinese foreign ministry cited Wang Yi as he concluded the meeting with his closing remarks.
The landmark deal is a diplomatic win for China in the Middle East region, which has been dominated by the United States. China has also called for dialogues between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the ongoing conflict. West, however, accuses China of deliberately not doing enough on the issues.
The Saudi Press Agency confirmed the agreement as it published a trilateral joint statement from China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The statement said that Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to respect state sovereignty and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. The statement also said Riyadh and Tehran had agreed to activate a security cooperation agreement signed in 2001.
Iran’s state-owned media IRNA news agency quoted Shamkhani as calling the talks in Beijing “clear, transparent, comprehensive and constructive.” Shamkhani was quoted saying that “removing misunderstandings and the future-oriented views in relations between Tehran and Riyadh will definitely lead to improving regional stability and security as well as increasing cooperation among Persian Gulf nations and the world of Islam for managing current challenges.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia’s relations hit the lowest point in 2016 when Riyadh broke off its diplomatic ties with Tehran after some protestors barged into Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic posts in Iran as a reaction to Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim scholar.
China is one of the world’s largest oil importers. Good relations between the two large exporting countries would immensely improve China’s oil-importing capabilities resulting in a more stable market. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Beijing last month, and Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the Saudi leader in Riyadh last year where he attended the meetings with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations crucial to China’s energy supplies.
Where many analysts and regional actors are seeing the restoration ties between the two regional rivals as a positive step towards ensuring peace and stability in the region, it was not well perceived by Israel. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett harshly criticized the restoration of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, saying it represented the failure of Israeli efforts to create a regional alliance against Tehran and laying the blame squarely on the newly elected Netanyahu government.
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