ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD FOR SAUDI-IRAN RAPPROCHEMENT FOR SAUDI-IRAN RAPPROCHEMENT
▶ Momentum of negotiations between regional powers continues with deal on resumption of direct flights
Talks over sticking points between Iran and Saudi Arabia are moving ahead after a meeting between their foreign ministers in Beijing, where the initial agreement for rapprochement was signed last month.
The meeting between Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian represented a vital step towards the restoration of diplomatic ties.
News of the meeting between Prince Faisal and Mr Amirabdollahian was released this week by Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, which quoted an unnamed source.
Choosing China “came as an extension of Beijing’s positive role in reaching the agreement and facilitating communication between the two countries”, the source, who was in Riyadh, told the Saudi-owned newspaper.
Higher-level meetings between Saudi and Iranian leaders are expected to follow, after Iran announced it accepted an invitation for President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber said.
Following the meeting on Thursday, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume flights and visits of official and private sector delegations, in addition to issuing visas for citizens, a statement signed by the countries said.
Both sides will also reopen diplomatic representations within the two-month period stipulated in an agreement brokered by China last month.
As part of the latest agreement, the long-time regional rivals will reopen representative offices in their capitals and in two other major cities – Mashhad in Iran and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the official Irna news agency reported.
Analysts who have been following the thaw in ties believe a meeting between Mr Raisi and Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to take place after the two-month deadline Riyadh and Tehran set to reopen embassies and consulates.
In 2016, Riyadh severed ties with Tehran after protesters raided Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in the kingdom.
It was one of many issues between the rivals.
Since April 2021, the sides have held five rounds of negotiations in Baghdad and several in Oman following mediation efforts from Muscat.
“There has been a consensus from Iran on their relationship with the GCC states, especially Saudi Arabia, which would be a crown jewel in that clout for them,” Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The National.
“The back channels happened both under the [former president Hassan] Rouhani and Raisi administrations.
“My understanding is that the Iranians have always pushed for having established diplomatic ties between the two countries.
“From there, [it was] working out the different regional issues where there are differences and how to overcome them.
“From the Saudis, they want to get certain guarantees and assurances, particularly in the Yemen conflict and cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia, before they are willing to actually move forward with the big bilateral issues.”
For Saudi Arabia, the deal could mean improved security guarantees from Iran.
The kingdom has blamed Iran for arming Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who carried out missile and drone attacks on its cities and oil centres.
In 2019, Riyadh blamed an attack on Aramco oil infrastructure directly on Iran. The attack caused a reduction in the kingdom’s oil output.
Part of the initial agreement signed last month, analysts say, addresses Saudi Arabia’s security concerns.
Abdulaziz Sager, head of the Gulf Research Centre, said the initial Saudi-Iranian agreement was “very important”.
“Iran has responded to China’s demand to improve relations with neighbouring countries,” he said.
The demand came during Mr Raisi’s visit to Beijing in February, Mr Sager said.
“China can be an important party to play the role of the implementer or guarantor of this Saudi-Iranian agreement,” Mr Sager told Saudi state television after the deal.
“The requirements of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the countries in the region were to stop Iran from its interventionist and expansionist policy in the internal Arab affairs, which was stipulated in the agreement by talking about respect for sovereignty.”
Joel Rubin, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, said Beijing’s role in the talks would increase confidence that the deal would stick.
“Because China is a strong backer of Iran, Saudi Arabia should have more confidence in Iran’s ability to comply with the agreement, an issue that has always been in doubt,” Mr Rubin told AFP.
Those who have been following the reconciliation process also noted the speed with which Saudi Arabia and Iran have been moving.
The agreement was to initiate meetings and consensus within a two-month deadline set last month.
“It does seem there is interest on both sides to meet the twomonth timeline announced in March for reopening embassies,” Ms Geranmayeh said.
“Both sides seem to be fast-tracking this process.”
Saudi political analyst Mohammed Al Saaed said the agreement signed on Thursday was the natural next step in restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“The agreements on the resumption of commercial flights, [and the] exchange of both private and official delegations between the two countries are all a stepping stone towards the full restoration of diplomatic ties we’re expected to see as we approach the two-month deadline,” Mr Al Saaed said.
The continuing reconciliation will also mean the possibility of ending years of war in Yemen, where the Houthis have been supported both politically and militarily by Iran.
“It is expected that the Islamic Republic of Iran will enter as a main mediator on the Yemeni issue and try to bring together the parties to the negotiating table, in addition to Saudi Arabia,” Ahmad Mahdi, a professor of political affairs at Qom University, told Sky News Arabia.
“The current truce in Yemen has a higher possibility of turning into permanent peace once both sides re-establish diplomatic ties.”
Recent signs of a thaw in ties between Iran and its Gulf neighbours have also been gaining momentum after Tehran named an ambassador to the UAE, nearly eight years after his predecessor left the post.
“The Foreign Ministry has named Reza Ameri as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s new ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,” Iran’s official Irna news agency reported this week.
The move comes after Iran welcomed an Emirati ambassador last September, ending a six-year absence.
Iran also signalled its willingness to repair ties with another Gulf country with which it has had long-standing issues.
Last month, after the initial deal signed with Saudi Arabia in China, Mr Amirabdollahian said that Tehran hoped for steps to be made towards
The reconciliation means the possibility of ending the war in Yemen, where the Houthis have been supported by Iran
the normalisation of ties with Bahrain.
“An agreement was reached two months ago for Iranian and Bahraini technical delegations to visit the embassies of the two countries,” Mr Amirabdollahian told Irna.
Saudi writer and political researcher Mubarak Al Aati believes the Saudi-Iranian agreement will usher the region into a new phase.
“The agreement will block a lot of the countries lurking in the region,” he said.
“The continuing agreement reaffirms that the countries of the region are able to gather their positions and take the initiative once again to address their issues whenever intentions are sincere, and there is a guarantor of any agreement.”
Mr Al Aati said that while Saudi Arabia still had many concerns, recent developments on the diplomatic front seemed to be pointing in the right direction.
“This matter will need more time to prove intentions and sincerity in dealing with this agreement,” he said.
The meeting of foreign ministers was “an important development towards a final agreement”, he said.