Iran reopens embassy in Saudi Arabia after 7 years
Middle East, News June 7, 2023 1 Comment on Iran reopens embassy in Saudi Arabia after 7 yearsAfter seven years of diplomatic rift, Iran has reopened its embassy in Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two Middle-Eastern countries agreed to reestablish their diplomatic ties after China mediated a peace deal between them in March this year.
The announcement about the reopening of the embassy came on June 5, 2023, by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani after Iran’s top diplomat met his Saudi counterpart in South Africa during the BRICS meeting.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Begdali and the representative of Iran in Jeddah, Hassan Zarnagar Abargoui were present in Riyadh to reopen the embassy. Iran is also set to reopen its consulate in the Saudi port city of Jeddah later this week.
Iran reopens embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh after the regional rivals agreed to end years-long diplomatic rift under China-mediated peace deal pic.twitter.com/M84cHn1jAz
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Iran has appointed its senior diplomat Alireza Enayati as the new ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Enayati, who headed the Persian Gulf department at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, previously served as Iran’s envoy to Kuwait.
During the ceremony, which was held inside the newly opened Iranian Embassy, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Alireza Bikdeli said, “We consider today an important day in the relations between [the] Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
The Iranian deputy foreign minister further added that “The region will move Inshallah (God willing) towards greater cooperation and convergence to achieve stability, prosperity, and progress.”
Saudi Arabia is also preparing to reopen its diplomatic missions in Iran, however, no particular dates have been announced by the Kingdom so far.
Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic machinery is working at full potential this year. Apart from reestablishing its relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia is also normalizing ties with Syria and playing a major role in resolving the refugee crisis in Sudan.
Saudi Arabia has also increasingly engaged with the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, where Riyadh and Tehran have backed opposing sides in the country’s civil war since 2015.
China-brokered agreement
The landmark political progress in the Middle East was made in Beijing earlier this year. The 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 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 on March 10, 2023. Successful trilateral talks resulted in Riyadh and Tehran agreeing to reestablish their diplomatic relations by reopening their embassies within two months.
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.
Iran and Saudi Arabia’s relations hit the lowest point in 2016 when Riyadh broke off its diplomatic ties with Tehran and closed its embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashhad 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.
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[…] the Iran issue, and regional security. Blinken’s visit to Saudi Arabia coincided with the reopening of the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after seven years. Although Iran and Saudi Arabia have improved relations, U.S. officials claim […]