Na’s dedication to peace still resonates
a Shiite cleric. ountries achieve detente, e role of a mediator, leble relations with them unication and dialogue ng parties.
23, in a joint statement a in Beijing, Saudi Arabia d that they had reached open their embassies and ns within two months, ne in the thawing of their
on of the Saudi-Iranian acted as a catalyst for a te among Middle Eastern
er, a string of positive olded in the Middle East ia returned to the Arab us of 12 years; Qatar and restore diplomatic ties; an, Turkey and Egypt imubsided in Yemen. for dialogue and peace,” ctor of the Office of the mmission of the CommuCentral Committee, when ric reconciliation. fessor of political science niversity in Cairo, said: red deal for restoring the ions presents the Middle
East with a new formula for seeking security and stability.”
‘There is far more depth’ to the detente
Over the past year, building on the conciliation, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been making breakthroughs in exchanges in various domains, including politics and economy.
On April 6, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, signed a joint declaration in Beijing, announcing an immediate resumption of diplomatic relations.
Just days after the recommencement of ties, Farzad Piltan, West Asia director at Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, announced that in the short term, the restoration of political and diplomatic ties would enable the two countries to achieve US$1 billion in trade, with potential for further expansion to US$2 billion in the medium term.
In September, the new Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, arrived in Riyadh. On the same day, the kingdom’s new envoy to Iran, Abdullah bin Saud al-Anzi, began his diplomatic duties in Tehran.
In October, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held his first-ever phone call with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, aligning their positions on the newly ignited Israel-Hamas conflict.
One month later, upon Saudi Arabia’s invitation, Raisi arrived in Riyadh to participate in a joint Arab-Islamic summit on the Palestinian issue, and held a meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
The close interactions between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the past year indicate that “there is far more depth” to the detente “than some analysts might have expected a year ago,” Giorgio Cafiero, chief executive officer of Gulf State Analytics, a Washingtonbased geopolitical risk consultancy, opined in a recent article.
With their burgeoning relationship, the two countries are sending a clear message to the outside world: Resilient peace can only be achieved through a reconciliation anchored in sincere dialogue.
At present, the fallout from the IsraelHamas conflict and certain countries’ obstruction of ceasefire efforts are posing a grave threat to the long-standing peace endeavors in the Middle East.
Against such a backdrop, China’s advocacy for resolving conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy holds even greater importance for nurturing peace in the still war-torn land.
“Following Beijing’s contribution to the reconciliation between Tehran and Riyadh, there has been a perception in the region that China seeks to ... create a regional situation where cooperation can outweigh and replace confrontation,” said Abas Aslani, an expert on Iran’s foreign policy based in Tehran.
China’s dedication to the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation and its success stand in stark contrast to Western intervention in Middle Eastern affairs, which has yielded little progress in advancing the peace process, said Bakir, the Cairo-based professor.
“The Arab world has been fed up with the Western ‘conditional relations’ ... In such a context, it is sensible for the Arab countries who trust China as a sincere partner to adopt the Chinese diplomacy ... as an appealing model,” she added.
China’s approach to achieving security resonates with the Middle Eastern nations’ aspirations for peaceful development, said Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi researcher at Al Riyadh Center for Political and Strategic Studies, adding that the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation has solidified the concept of peace and development as a shared consensus across the region.
“The resolution of the Saudi-Iranian rift serves as a testament to the efficacy of China’s diplomatic endeavors in fostering regional peace,” said Hamed Vafaei, a sinologist at the University of Tehran.
“A more peaceful Middle East and world at large requires the participation of more peace contributors like China.”